Selection set evaluation device and sale management device

ABSTRACT

A selection set evaluation device comprises selection item storage means ( 201 ) where information concerning selection items are stored, selection item presenting means ( 202 ) for presenting selection items to a user, selection item selection means ( 203 ) for allowing the user to select one or more of the presented selection items, evaluation criterion storage means ( 207 ) where evaluation criterion used for evaluating a selection set consisting of the one or more selection items selected by the user; and selection set evaluating means ( 209 ) for evaluating the selection set on the basis of the evaluation criterion. Thus a selection set evaluation device for evaluating a selection set which is a combination of selection items selected by the user on the basis of predetermined evaluation criteria.

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/JP01/09037 which has an Internationalfiling date of Oct. 15, 2001, which designated the United States ofAmerica.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a selection set evaluation device, aselection set making device, a selection set evaluating system, aselection set evaluating method, a computer-readable storage mediumstoring a program for carrying out the selection set method, and aproduct selling device, by which: a user selects one selection item or aplurality of selection items from a large number of selection items soas to make a selection set that is a combination thereof, and theselection set is evaluated in accordance with an evaluation rule, set inadvance, that is used to judge which combination is preferable when theselection set itself is regarded as a target product to be purchased forexample.

Further, the present invention relates to a selection set evaluationdevice, a selection set evaluating system, a selection set evaluationresult collecting device constituting the selection set evaluatingsystem, a selection set making device, a selection set evaluationinputting device, a selection set evaluating method, a computer-readablestorage medium storing a program for carrying out the selection setevaluating method, a product selling device, and a communicationsupporting device, by which: a user making selection selects oneselection item or a plurality of selection items from a large number ofselection items so as to make a selection set that is a combinationthereof, and an evaluating user makes an evaluation, that is regarded asa standard for a user making selection or a user purchasing theselection set to determine which combination is preferable, so as toindicate an evaluation result to the user making selection or the userpurchasing the selection set when the selection set itself is regardedas a target product to be purchased for example.

Further, the present invention relates to a selection set evaluationdevice, a selection set evaluating system, a selection set evaluationresult collecting device constituting the selection set evaluatingsystem, a selection set making device, a selection set evaluationinputting device, a selection set evaluating method, a computer-readablestorage medium storing a selection set evaluating program, a productselling device, and a communication supporting device, by which: a userselects one selection item or a plurality of selection items from alarge number of selection items so as to make the combination thereof,and an evaluating user makes an evaluation, that is regarded as astandard for a user making selection or a user purchasing the selectionset to determine which combination is preferable, in accordance with (a)an evaluation rule that has been set in advance and (b) an evaluationresult indicated by another evaluating user, when the selection setitself is regarded as a target product to be purchased for example.

Further, the present invention relates to a sale management device, aproduct set making device, a product set purchasing device, a salemanagement system, a sale management method, and a storage mediumstoring a sale management program, by which: a product set that is acombination of a plurality of products or a plurality of selective itemsis sold via a network.

BACKGROUND ART

On-line sale performed in the Internet has become popular. In such asale system, sold products are ranked, and the ranking is displayed in aterminal device, so that a purchaser obtains a standard for selectingproducts. FIG. 57 shows an example where sold CDs are ranked so thattitles thereof and artist names thereof are displayed in the terminaldevice.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 171504/1997(Tokukaihei 9-171504)(Publication date: Jun. 30, 1997) recites aninformation processing device and an information processing method suchthat: a user subjectively evaluates a predetermined target product suchas a book and a music software by voting, and a total of votes arecalculated so as to rank the target product, so that which product ishighly evaluated is indicated to the user.

Incidentally, in the on-line sale of digital contents such as musicdistribution service, it is possible to purchase a favorite combinationof contents by making selection from a large number of contents, forexample, the user makes a single music album by combining his/herfavorite songs. Further, in sale of a personal computer and the like,there is a sale style which enables subtle customization, for example,selection is made with respect to types of CPU and capacity of a memoryor a hard disk, or option parts are purchased in combination, which isknown as BTO (Build To Order). In this way, recently, it becomes oftenthat the user selects desired items from a plurality of selection itemsso as to make a combination of the selected items.

However, in case of combining individual products, there occurs mismatchin terms of an object in purchasing the combination of selectedproducts, for example, there occurs imbalance in terms of rhythm ortempo between the selected songs constituting the music album when theaforementioned music album is made, or there occurs a combination whichis inappropriate for a specific usage such as formation of computergraphics when the aforementioned personal computer is targeted.

However, in the conventional method of informing the ranking, productsare separately targeted upon making the ranking. Thus, the purchasercannot obtain a standard for combining a plurality products or selectionitems, so that the purchaser does not know “which combination satisfieshis/her needs in purchasing”. This brings about such a problem that:even when the user makes a combination of plural items by referring tothe ranking as a standard, the combination tends to lack in theuniformity and to be imbalanced.

Further, in the information processing device and the informationprocessing method recited in Tokukaihei 9-171504, a target item isranked by calculating (a) the number of times the target item isaccessed, and (b) a point obtained and inputted by subjectivelyevaluating the target item, and similar manners, so as to determinewhere the target item is ranked. This brings about such a problem that:a standard for evaluation is not clear, so that it is not clear whichbasis supports the obtained evaluation.

That is, in case of the aforementioned music album, when an albumconstituted of songs based on a certain theme is made, only subjectiveevaluation based on personal preference can be obtained, so that it isdifficult to realize the uniformity in the entire album with goodbalance. Further, when there is no evaluating user, it is impossible toobtain the evaluation, or when there are few evaluating usersperforming, adequacy of the evaluation is low.

Further, in an on-line sale site for selling combination of pluralproducts or plural selective items as described above, a purchaserselects respective products or respective selective items so as todetermine which combination is to be purchased, or a seller makes aproduct set constituted of plural products or plural selective items inadvance, and the purchaser purchases the product set as it is orpartially changes the product set before purchasing.

The product set made in advance is made by a seller who manages theon-line sale site. Alternately, as recited in Japanese Laid-Open PatentApplication No. 320457/1998 (Tokukaihei 10-320457)(Publication date:Dec. 4, 1998), there is such a method that: plural products frequentlyordered at the same time are combined with each other in accordance withorder history information indicative of (a) products ordered at the sametime by a single order maker and (b) the number of the products, so thatthe product set is automatically made based on the sale history.

However, in the conventional method in which the purchaser selectsproducts or selective items so as to determine a combination topurchase, there is such a problem that the purchaser is bothered to makeselection. Further, there is such a problem that: in a case where thepurchaser has little knowledge of the products and the selective items,there is no standard to make selection, so that it is difficult to makean appropriate combination that satisfies an object of purchase.

Further, in the method in which the seller makes the product set inadvance, the seller is bothered to make the product set.

The operation/sale management method recited in Tokukaihei 10-320457 isto solve the foregoing problems, but there is such a problem that: alarge quantity of order history information is required in extractingproducts for making the product set, so that it is impossible to extractproducts including a product that has never been sold. Thus, there issuch a problem that: only the combination of products ordered at thesame time by a single order maker is to be extracted, so that types ofthe product set automatically made are limited to some extent.

Further, the operation/sale management method recited in Tokukaihei10-320457 merely proposes the method of automatically making the productset, so that this does not solve the conventional problem such that itis difficult for the purchaser to obtain the product set suitable forthe object of the purchase.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was conceived from the foregoing view point, andits object is to provide a selection set evaluation device, a selectionset making device, a selection set evaluating system, a selection setevaluating method, a computer-readable storage medium storing a programfor carrying out the selection set evaluating method, and a productselling device, by which a selection set constituted of selection itemsselected by a user with a certain object is evaluated in accordance witha predefined evaluation rule so as to indicate whether a certaincombination is preferable or not.

Further, the object of the present invention is to provide a selectionset evaluation device, a selection set evaluation result collectingdevice, a selection set making device, a selection set evaluationinputting device, a selection set evaluating system, a selection setevaluating method, a computer-readable storage medium storing a programfor carrying out the selection set evaluating method, a product sellingdevice, and a communication supporting device, by which an evaluatinguser evaluates a selection set constituted of selection items selectedby a selecting user with a certain object, so as to indicate whether acertain combination is preferable or not to the selecting user or a userusing the selection set, by purchasing the selection set and in asimilar manner.

Further, the object of the present invention is to provide a selectionset evaluation device, a selection set evaluation result collectingdevice, a selection set making device, a selection set evaluationinputting device, a selection set evaluating system, a selection setevaluating method, a computer-readable storage medium storing aselection set evaluation program, a product selling device, and acommunication supporting device, by which a selection set constituted ofselection items selected by a selecting user with a certain object isevaluated, in accordance with a predefined evaluation rule, or by anevaluating user, so as to indicate a clue for judging whether a certaincombination is preferable or not to the selecting user or a user usingthe selection set, by purchasing the selection set and in a similarmanner.

Further, the object of the present invention is to provide a salemanagement device, a product set making device, a product set purchasingdevice, a sale management system, a sale management method, and acomputer-readable storage medium storing a sale management program, bywhich it is possible to indicate various product set, constituted of aplurality of products or a plurality of selective items, that has beenmade by an unspecified user, to a purchaser, and the purchaser caneasily purchase a product set which satisfies an object of the purchase.

In order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection set evaluationdevice according to the present invention includes: evaluation rulestoring means (evaluation criterion storage means) for storing anevaluation rule to evaluate a selection set constituted of one selectionitem or a plurality of selection items selected by a user; and selectionset evaluating means for evaluating the selection set, in accordancewith the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means, soas to output an evaluation result, when the selection set is inputted.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection set evaluating meansevaluates the selection set in accordance with the evaluation rulestored in the evaluation rule storing means, so that it is possible toevaluate a combination of the selection items selected by the user inaccordance with a specific standard. Further, the user can obtain aspecific standard to make the selection set, so that it is possible tomake the selection set in which the selection items are combined witheach other so that the combination is highly evaluated in accordancewith the evaluation.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation device according to the present invention includes: selectionitem storing means (selection item storage means) for storinginformation concerning the selection item; selection item indicatingmeans (selection item presenting means) for indicating the selectionitem to the user; selection item selecting means (selection itemselection means) by which the user selects the selection item, that hasbeen selected, so as to make the selection set; evaluation rule storingmeans for storing an evaluation rule to evaluate the selection set thathas been made by the user; and selection set evaluating means forevaluating the selection set, in accordance with the evaluation rulestored in the evaluation rule storing means, so as to output anevaluation result.

With the foregoing configuration, the user selects a desired selectionitem from the selection items, that have been read by the selection itemindicating means from the selection item storing means so as to indicatethe selection items, by using the selection item selecting means, so asto make a selection set. The selection set made by the user is evaluatedby the selection set evaluating means in accordance with the evaluationrule stored in the evaluation rule storing means, so that it is possibleto evaluate a combination of the selection items selected by the user inaccordance with a specific standard. Further, the user can obtain aspecific standard to make the selection set, so that it is possible tomake the selection set in which the selection items are combined witheach other so that the combination is highly evaluated in accordancewith the evaluation.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may further includesselection condition parameter setting means (selection state parametersetting means) for setting a selection condition parameter to adjust adegree at which each selection item included in the selection setcontributes to evaluation, wherein the selection set evaluating meansadjusts the evaluation result according to the selection conditionparameter that has been set.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to set a parameter suchas importance with respect to each selection item by means of theselection condition parameter setting means, and the selection setevaluating means adjusts the evaluation result made by the selection setevaluating means according to the selection condition parameter storedin the selection condition parameter storing means (selection stateparameter storage means) when the selection set is evaluated inaccordance with the evaluation rule. Thus, when the selection conditionparameter of a selection item required to largely contribute to theevaluation is set to high, it is possible to bring about such anevaluation that an evaluation result based on the evaluation ruletargeting the selection item is emphasized.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may further includesevaluation rule setting means (evaluation criterion setting means) forsetting the evaluation rule, wherein the evaluation rule setting meansupdates the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to update theevaluation rule by means of the evaluation rule setting means, so thatit is possible to add or change the evaluation rule.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may further includesevaluation result adequacy setting means by which the user sets adequacywith respect to the evaluation result of the selection set, saidevaluation result having been given by the selection set evaluatingmeans, wherein the evaluation rule setting means uses the adequacy thathas been set by the evaluation result adequacy storing means, so as toupdate the evaluation result stored in the evaluation rule storingmeans.

With the foregoing configuration, the user sets the adequacy of theevaluation result by means of the evaluation result adequacy settingmeans, so that the evaluation rule setting means updates the evaluationrule according to the adequacy that has been set. Thus, it is possibleto make the evaluation rule converge so as to satisfy needs of the user.As a result, it is possible to improve reliability of the evaluationresult brought about by the selection set evaluating means.

Besides, in the selection set evaluation device, the selection setevaluating means evaluates the selection set in real time when a contentof the selection set is updated.

With the foregoing configuration, when the user updates the combinationof the selection items included in the selection set by using theselection item selecting means, the selection set evaluating meansevaluates the selection set in real time, so that the user can learn thechange of the evaluation result immediately. Thus, this makes it easyfor the user to rectify the selection set.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation device according to the present invention includes: selectionitem transmission controlling means for controlling transmission ofinformation concerning the selection item to a terminal operated by theuser who selects the selection item so as to make the selection set;selection set reception controlling means for controlling reception ofthe selection set from the terminal; evaluation rule storing means forstoring the evaluation rule to evaluate the selection set; and selectionset evaluating means for evaluating the selection set, in accordancewith the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means, soas to output an evaluation result.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection item transmissioncontrolling means transmits the information concerning the selectionitem to the terminal. The user operating the terminal selects theselection item so as to make the selection set. The selection set thathas been selected is received from the terminal by the selection setreception controlling means. The selection set evaluating meansevaluates the selection set, that has been received, in accordance withthe evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means.

Thus, it is possible to use a wide range of terminal devices such as apersonal computer, a portable computer, a cellar phone, and the like, asthe terminal, so that it is possible to evaluate selection set made by awide range of users.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setmaking device according to the present invention includes: selectionitem selecting means by which a user selects the selection itemindicated by the selection set evaluation device; and selection settransmitting means for transmitting the selection set that has been madeby the user to the selection set evaluation device.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection item selected by theuser with the selection item selecting means is indicated by theselection set evaluation device, and the selection set made by the useris transmitted by the selection set transmitting means to the selectionset evaluation device. Thus, even when the information concerning theselection item and the evaluation rule to evaluate the selection set arenot stored on the side of the selection set making device, it ispossible to make the selection set, and to obtain the evaluation of theselection set. As a result, with simplification of the selection setmaking device, it is possible to miniaturize the selection set makingdevice and make the selection set making device lighter at a lower cost.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating system according to the present invention includes theforegoing selection set evaluation device and the foregoing selectionset making device.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to build a selectionset evaluating system which covers a wide range of users.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating method according to the present invention includes the stepsof: inputting a selection set constituted of one selection item or aplurality of selection items selected by a user; and evaluating theselection set, in accordance with an evaluation rule to evaluate theselection set, when the selection set is inputted.

With the foregoing configuration, in the step of inputting the selectionset, the selection set made by the user is inputted from a terminalhaving a selection set making function to a device having a selectionset evaluating function via a wire or a radio communication, or theselection set is inputted directly to the device having the selectionset evaluating function by using inputting means included in the devicehaving the selection set evaluating function. Further, in the step ofevaluating the selection set, the selection set is evaluated inaccordance with the evaluation rule, so that it is possible to evaluatethe selection set of the selection item selected by the user inaccordance with a specific standard. Further, the user can obtain aspecific standard to make the selection set, so that it is possible tomake the selection set in which the selection items are combined witheach other so that the combination is highly evaluated in accordancewith the evaluation.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating method according to the present invention includes the stepsof: indicating information concerning the selection item to the user;and evaluating a selection set constituted of the selection item inaccordance with an evaluation rule to evaluate the selection set.

With the foregoing configuration, in the step of indicating theselection item, the user selects one selection item or a plurality ofselection items from the information concerning the selection item thathas been indicated, so that it is possible to make the selection set.Thus, this makes it easier to make the selection set. Further, in thestep of evaluating the selection set, the selection set is evaluated inaccordance with the evaluation rule, so that it is possible to evaluatethe combination of the selection item selected by the user in accordancewith a specific standard. Further, the user can obtain a specificstandard to make the selection set, so that it is possible to make theselection set in which the selection items are combined with each otherso that the combination is highly evaluated in accordance withevaluations.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the computer-readablestorage medium according to the present invention stores a program forcarrying out the aforementioned selection set evaluating method.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to cause a generalcomputer to carry out the aforementioned selection set evaluatingmethod.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the product sellingdevice according to the present invention, which enables a plurality ofproducts to be sold as a combination, includes the aforementionedselection set evaluation device, or the aforementioned selection setmaking device, or the aforementioned selection set evaluating system.

With the foregoing configuration, the purchaser can obtain a clue fordetermining a combination upon combining a plurality of products so asto purchase the combination. Further, the user can purchase acombination of a plurality of products from the aforementioned selectionset evaluation device, or the selection set making device, or theselection set evaluating system.

Note that, the evaluation rule storing means may include an evaluationrule to evaluate a specific order of the selection items included in theselection set.

Thus, the selection set evaluation device can evaluate the selection settaking the order of the selection items into consideration.

Further, the evaluation rule storing means may include an evaluationrule to evaluate a specific combination of the selection items includedin the selection set.

Thus, the selection set evaluation device can evaluate the selection settaking the combination of the selection items into consideration.

Further, the evaluation rule storing means may include an evaluationrule by which characteristics concerning the selection items included inthe selection set are referred to from the information stored in theselection item storing means so that the characteristics of theselection items are compared with each other so as to make anevaluation.

Thus, the selection set evaluation device can evaluate the selection settaking various characteristics of the selection items intoconsideration.

Further, the selection set evaluating means may rectify the selectioncondition parameter when the selection set is evaluated.

Thus, it is possible to adjust a degree at which the selection itemcontributes to the evaluation, so that it is possible to facilitate moreappropriate evaluation.

Further, the selection set evaluation device of the present inventionmay include: evaluation rule indicating means for indicating theevaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means to the user;and evaluation rule rectifying means by which the user rectifies theevaluation rule indicated by the evaluation rule indicating means,wherein the evaluation rule rectifying means updates the evaluation rulestored in the evaluation rule storing means.

Thus, the user can update the evaluation rule, so that it is possible toadd an evaluation result favored by the user, and to indicate a newevaluation rule to another user.

Further, the selection set evaluation device of the present inventionmay include evaluation result informing means (evaluation resultnotifying means) for informing an evaluation result made by theselection set evaluating means to the user.

Thus, the user can learn the evaluation of the selection set, so that itis possible to rectify the selection set by checking the evaluationresult.

Further, the evaluation result informing means may inform the user of abasis for the evaluation.

Thus, the user can learn the basis for the evaluation, so that it ispossible to obtain a clue for rectifying the selection set by checkingthe evaluation result.

Further, the selection set evaluation device of the present inventionmay include selection set ranking means (selection set rating means) forranking a plurality of selection sets in accordance with the evaluationmade by the selection set evaluating means, wherein a rank of theselection set is informed to the user.

Thus, it is possible to compare a selection set made by a user with aselection set made by another user. Moreover, it is possible to use aselection set, highly evaluated, that has been made by another user.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation device according to the present invention includes: selectionitem storing means for storing information concerning the selectionitem; selection item indicating means for indicating the selection itemto a selecting user; selection item selecting means by which theselecting user selects the selection item, that has been indicated, soas to make the selection set; selection set indicating means forindicating the selection set, that has been made by the selecting user,to a plurality of evaluating users; and evaluation inputting means bywhich each of the evaluating users inputs an evaluation of the selectionset that has been indicated.

With the foregoing configuration, the selecting user selects theselection item, stored in the selection item storing means, that hasbeen indicated by the selection item indicating means, by using theselection item selecting means, so as to make the selection set. Theselection set that has been made is indicated to the evaluating user bythe selection set indicating means. The evaluating user inputs theevaluation of the selection set by using the evaluation inputting means,so that the evaluating user can evaluate a combination of the selectionitem selected by the selecting user.

As a result, the selecting user can refer to the evaluation of theselection set upon making a new selection set or rectifying theselection set that has been made.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may include totalevaluation deriving means for deriving a total evaluation from aplurality of evaluations with respect to the selection set that has beeninputted by the plurality of evaluating users.

With the foregoing configuration, the plurality of evaluating users makethe plurality of evaluations. Thus, even when a large quantity ofevaluations are made with respect to the selection set, the totalevaluation deriving means derives the total evaluation, so that theevaluating users can refer to the total evaluation without referring torespective evaluations. Further, the evaluations made by the evaluatingusers are subjective, but it is possible to derive an objectiveevaluation by deriving the total evaluation from a large quantity ofevaluations.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may include: evaluationresult informing means for informing evaluation results, inputted by theevaluating users, to a user using the evaluation results; evaluationresult adequacy setting means by which the user using the evaluationresults sets adequacy of the evaluation results informed by theevaluation result informing means; and total evaluation deriving meansfor deriving the total evaluation in accordance with (a) a plurality ofevaluations of the selection set that have been inputted by theplurality of evaluating users with the evaluation inputting means and(b) the adequacy of the evaluation results that have been set by theevaluation result adequacy setting means.

With the foregoing configuration, the user using the evaluation resultssets the adequacy of the evaluation results, informed by the evaluationresult informing means, by means of the evaluation result adequacysetting means. Thus, the total evaluation deriving means can derive thetotal evaluation so that an evaluation whose adequacy is regarded ashigh is emphasized and an evaluation whose adequacy is regarded as lowis excluded, so that it is possible to derive a highly objective totalevaluation.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may be arranged sothat: a basis for each evaluation is inputted together via theevaluation inputting means.

With the foregoing configuration, each of the evaluating users can inputthe basis for the evaluation by means of the evaluation inputting means,so that the user using the evaluation results can refer to the basisupon judging the adequacy of the evaluation results. Further, when thetotal evaluation deriving means derives the total evaluation inaccordance with only an evaluation result inputted with a specific basisfor the evaluation, such as “relevancy to theme” and “consistency ofselection items”, it is possible to derive the total evaluation from aspecific view point. Thus, this makes it easier for the user using theevaluation results to use an evaluation result made from a desired viewpoint.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation result collecting device according to the present inventionincludes: selection item transmission controlling means for controllingtransmission of information concerning the selection item to a firstterminal operated by the user selecting the selection item so as to makethe selection set; selection item transmission/reception controllingmeans for controlling (a) reception of the selection set from the firstterminal and (b) transmission of the selection set to a second terminaloperated by the evaluating user; and selection set evaluation receptioncontrolling means for controlling reception of an evaluation of theselection set from the second terminal.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection item transmissioncontrolling means transmits the information concerning the selectionitem to the first terminal. The user making the selection set, who is auser of the first terminal, selects the selection item so as to make theselection set. The selection set that has been made is received from thefirst terminal by the selection set transmission/reception controllingmeans. Further, the selection set transmission/reception controllingmeans transmits the selection set, that has been received from the firstterminal, to the second terminal. The evaluating user, who is a user ofthe second terminal, evaluates the selection set. The evaluation resultthereof is received from the second terminal by the selection setevaluation reception controlling means.

Thus, it is possible to use a wide range of terminal devices as thefirst or second terminal, so that it is possible to collect selectionsets and evaluation results that have been made by a wide range ofusers.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setmaking device according to the present invention is connected to theaforementioned selection set evaluation result collecting device, and isused to make a selection set constituted of one selection item or aplurality of selection items, and includes: selection item selectingmeans by which a user making the selection set selects the selectionitem, that has been indicated by the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device, so as to make the selection set; and selection settransmitting means for transmitting the selection set, that has beenmade by the user, to the selection set evaluation result collectingdevice.

With the foregoing configuration, the information concerning theselection item is indicated by the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device, so that the selection set making device itself is notrequired to store the information concerning the selection item. Anamount of the information concerning the selection item is generallylarge, so that it is possible to save a memory capacity of the selectionset making device.

Further, the selection set constituted of the selection item that hasbeen selected by the user making selection with the selection itemselecting means is transmitted by the selection set transmitting meansto the selection set evaluation result collecting device. Thus, theselection set evaluation result collecting device transmits theselection set, that has been transmitted from the selection set makingdevice, to the user making the evaluation, so that it is possible tocollect evaluations of the selection set.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation inputting device according to the present invention isconnected to the aforementioned selection set evaluation resultcollecting device, and is used to input an evaluation with respect to aselection set constituted of one selection item or a plurality ofselection items, and includes: evaluation inputting means by which anevaluating user inputs the evaluation of the selection set indicated bythe selection set evaluation result collecting device; and evaluationtransmitting means for transmitting the evaluation inputted by theevaluation inputting means to the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device.

With the foregoing configuration, the evaluating user inputs theevaluation of the selection set that has been indicated from theselection set evaluation result collecting device, by means of theevaluation inputting means, and transmits the evaluation to theselection set evaluation result collecting device by means of theevaluation transmitting means, so that it is possible to input theevaluation of the selection set made by another user. Thus, theselection set evaluation result collecting device can collectevaluations of the selection set made by the user making selection.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating system according to the present invention includes: theaforementioned selection set evaluation result collecting device; theaforementioned selection set making device; and the aforementionedselection set evaluation inputting device.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to build a selectionset evaluating system which covers a wide range of users.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating method according to the present invention includes the stepsof: indicating information concerning the selection item to a selectinguser; indicating the selection set made by the selecting user to anevaluating user; and allowing the evaluating user to input an evaluationof the selection set that has been indicated.

With the foregoing configuration, the selecting user selects oneselection item or a plurality of selection items that have beenindicated in the step of indicating the selection item, so as to makethe selection set. The selection set that has been made is indicated tothe evaluating user in the step of indicating the selection item. Theevaluating user inputs the evaluation of the selection set in the stepof inputting the evaluation, so that the evaluating user can evaluatethe selection set that has been made by the selecting user.

As a result, the selecting user can refer to the evaluation of theselection set upon making a new selection set and rectifying theselection set that has been made.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the computer-readablestorage medium according to the present invention stores a program forcarrying out the aforementioned selection set evaluating method.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to cause a generalcomputer to carry out the selection set evaluating method.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the product sellingdevice according to the present invention, which enables a plurality ofproducts to be sold as a combination, includes the aforementionedselection set evaluation device, or the aforementioned selection setevaluation result collecting device, or the aforementioned selection setmaking device, or the aforementioned selection set evaluation inputtingdevice, or the aforementioned selection set evaluating system.

With the foregoing configuration, the purchaser can refer to theevaluation result derived with respect to a combination of a pluralityof products, and can obtain a clue for determining the combination, uponcombining the plurality of products so as to purchase the combination.For example, when this is applied to a product selling device by whichsongs are combined as a music album so as to be purchased, the purchasercan learn whether the combination is preferable or not, and can make anew combination by referring to a combination, made by anotherpurchaser, that is highly evaluated, so as to purchase the combination.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the communicationsupporting device according to the present invention includes theaforementioned selection set evaluation device, or the aforementionedselection set evaluation result collecting device, or the aforementionedselection set making device, or the aforementioned selection setinputting device, or the aforementioned selection set evaluating system.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to support exchange ofmessages and the like between a plurality of users talking about theevaluation of the selection set. For example, when this is applied to adevice for supporting communications concerning music, a plurality ofusers can discus which part is preferable and which part is notpreferable with respect to an arrangement of a music album made bycombining songs.

Note that, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may include evaluation result informing means for informingthe evaluation result, that has been inputted by the evaluating userwith the evaluation inputting means, to the user using the evaluationresult.

Thus, the user using the evaluation result can learn the evaluation ofthe selection set selected by the selecting user. Further, also the userwho has selected the selection set can learn the evaluation of theselection set, so that he/she can rectify the selection set by checkingthe evaluation result.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may include total evaluation result informing means forinforming the total evaluation result, that has been derived by thetotal evaluation deriving means, to the user using the evaluationresult.

Thus, when a plurality of evaluating users make a plurality ofevaluations with respect to the selection set selected by the selectinguser, the user using the evaluation result can use the total evaluationresult without referring to respective evaluations.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may be arranged so that: one selection item or a plurality ofselection items to be evaluated, that are selected from the selectionitems included in the selection set, are specified via the evaluationinputting means by the evaluating user, so as to be inputted.

Thus, the evaluating user can specify the selection item to beevaluated, that is selected from the selection items included in theselection set, so that it is possible to evaluate a part of theselection set. Thus, it is possible to clearly indicate which part isevaluated, or it is possible to indicate a basis for the evaluation indetail.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may be arranged so that: the evaluation result informing meansinforms a basis for the evaluation together to the user using theevaluation result.

Thus, the user using the evaluation result can learn the basis for theevaluation of the selection set, so that it is possible to judge whetherthe evaluation is appropriate or not. Further, also the user who selectsthe selection set can learn the basis for the evaluation of theselection set, so that it is possible to obtain a clue for rectifyingthe selection set by checking the evaluation result.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may include selection set ranking means for ranking aplurality of selection sets in accordance with evaluations received fromthe evaluation inputting means or the total evaluation deriving means,wherein a ranking of the selection set is indicated to the user usingthe evaluation result.

Thus, the user using the evaluation result can compare the plurality ofselection sets, that have been evaluated, with each other, this makes iteasier to use a selection set which is highly evaluated.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation device according to the present invention includes:evaluation rule storing means for storing an evaluation rule to evaluatethe selection set made by a user making the selection set; selection setevaluating means for evaluating the selection set, in accordance withthe evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means, so asto output an evaluating result, when the selection set is inputted;selection set indicating means for indicating the selection set, thathas been inputted, to an evaluating user; evaluation inputting means bywhich the evaluating user inputs an evaluation of the selection set thathas been indicated; and total evaluation deriving means for deriving atotal evaluation result in accordance with (a) an evaluation result madeby the selection set evaluating means and (b) the evaluation inputted bythe evaluating user with the evaluation inputting means, so as to outputa total evaluation result.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection set that has been madeby the user making the selection set is evaluated by the selection setevaluating means in accordance with the evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means. Further, the selection set is indicatedby the selection set indicating means to the evaluating user, and theevaluation made by the evaluating user is inputted by the selection setevaluating means. Moreover, the total evaluation deriving means derivesthe total evaluation result in accordance with (a) the evaluation resultmade by the selection set evaluating means and (b) the evaluation resultinputted by the evaluation inputting means, so as to output the totalevaluation result.

Thus, the total evaluation result is derived totally in accordance with(a) the evaluation result based on the evaluation rule which is aspecific objective standard and (b) the evaluation made from a viewpoint different from the evaluation rule, so that it is possible toobtain a more appropriate evaluation result. Thus, the selecting usercan refer to the evaluation result of the selection set upon making anew selection set and rectifying the selection set that has been made.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may include: selectionitem storing means for storing information concerning the selectionitem; selection item indicating means for indicating the selection itemto the user making the selection set; and selection item selecting meansby which the user making the selection set selects the selection itemthat has been indicated.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection item indicating meansindicates the information concerning the selection item stored in theselection item storing means to the user making the selection set, andthe user making the selection set selects the selection item, that hasbeen indicated, by using the selection item selecting means so as tomake the selection set, and makes a combination, so that the user makingthe selection set can make the selection set. The evaluation result ofthe selection set is derived as described above, so that the selectinguser can make a new selection set and rectify the selection set byreferring to the evaluation result of the selection set.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may include evaluationrule setting means for adding or deleting or rectifying the evaluationrule, wherein the evaluation rule setting means updates the evaluationrule stored in the evaluation rule storing means.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to update theevaluation rule by means of the evaluation rule setting means, so thatit is possible to add or delete or change the evaluation rule. Thus, itis possible to store a more appropriate evaluation rule in theevaluation rule storing means.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may include evaluationrule extracting means for extracting the evaluation rule from theevaluation inputted by the evaluating user with the evaluation inputtingmeans, wherein the evaluation rule setting means updates the evaluationrule stored in the evaluation rule storing means by using the evaluationrule that has been extracted by the evaluation rule extracting means.

With the foregoing configuration, the evaluation rule extracting meansextracts the evaluation rule from the evaluation inputted by theevaluating user with the evaluation inputting means, and the evaluationrule that has been extracted is added and stored in the evaluation rulestoring means by the evaluation rule setting means. By using theevaluation rule that has been newly extracted in this manner, theselection set evaluating means can evaluate a new selection set. Thus,even when the selection set is not evaluated by the evaluating user, oreven when the selection set is evaluated by few evaluating users, theselection set evaluating means can make the evaluation more exactly.

Further, the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing meansis added. Thus, when the selection set evaluation device continues to beoperated and more evaluations are made by the evaluating user, theselection set evaluating means can make a more appropriate evaluation.

In addition, the selection set evaluation device may include evaluationresult adequacy setting means by which a user referring to theevaluation result sets adequacy of (a) the evaluation result made by theselection set evaluating means or (b) the evaluation inputted by theevaluating user with the evaluation inputting means, wherein theevaluation rule extracting means extracts the evaluation rulecorresponding to the adequacy of the evaluation that has been set by theevaluation result adequacy setting means.

With the foregoing configuration, a user referring to the evaluationresult sets the adequacy of the evaluation result by means of theevaluation result adequacy setting means, and the evaluation ruleextracting means extracts the evaluation rule according to the adequacy.Thus, it is possible to extract the evaluation rule taking the adequacyof the evaluation result into consideration, for example, a pointcorresponding to an evaluation rule extracted from an evaluation resultwhose adequacy is set to high is regarded as high, or an evaluation ruleis not extracted from an evaluation result whose adequacy is low, sothat it is possible to extract a more appropriate evaluation rule.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, includes: selectionset transmission/reception controlling means for (a) receiving theselection set, that has been made by a first terminal operated by theuser making the selection set, from the first terminal, and (b)transmitting the selection set to a second terminal operated by anevaluating user; evaluation rule storing means for storing an evaluationrule to evaluate the selection set; selection set evaluating means forevaluating the selection set, that has been received from the firstterminal, in accordance with the evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means, so as to output an evaluation result;selection set evaluation reception controlling means for controllingreception of an evaluation of the selection set from the secondterminal; and total evaluation deriving means for deriving a totalevaluation result in accordance with (a) the evaluation result made bythe selection set evaluating means and (b) the evaluation received bythe selection set evaluation reception controlling means.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection set made by the user,making the selection set, who is a user of the first terminal, isreceived from the first terminal by the selection settransmission/reception controlling means. The selection set that hasbeen received is evaluated by the selection set evaluating means inaccordance with the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rulestoring means. Further, the selection set is transmitted to the secondterminal by the selection set transmission/reception controlling means.The evaluation of the selection set that has been made by the evaluatinguser, who is a user of the second terminal, is received from the secondterminal by the selection set evaluation receiving means. Further, thetotal evaluation deriving means derives the total evaluation result inaccordance with (a) the evaluation result made by the selection setevaluating means and (b) the evaluation result that has been received bythe selection set evaluation receiving means, so as to output the totalevaluation result.

Thus, it is possible to use a wide range of terminal devices as thefirst or second terminal, so that a wide range of users can makeselection sets and evaluation results can be collected.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation inputting device according to the present invention isconnected to the aforementioned selection set evaluation resultcollecting device, and is used to input an evaluation of a selection setconstituted of one selection item or a plurality of selection items, andincludes: selection item storing means for temporarily or continuouslystoring information concerning the selection item; selection itemindicating means for indicating the selection item to a user making theselection set; selection item selecting means by which the user selectsthe selection item, that has been indicated, so as to make the selectionset; and selection set transmitting means for transmitting the selectionset, that has been made, to the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device.

With the foregoing configuration, the selecting user selects theselection item, temporarily or continuously stored in the selection itemstoring means, by means of the selection item selecting means, so as tomake the selection set, and the selection set that has been made istransmitted to the selection set evaluation result collecting device bymeans of the selection set transmitting means. Thus, the selection setevaluation result collecting device outputs the evaluation result, basedon the evaluation rule, with respect to the selection set that has beentransmitted from the selection set making device, and transmits theevaluation result to the evaluating user, so that it is possible tocollect evaluations of the selection set.

Thus, even when the selection set making device does not store theevaluation rule to evaluate the selection set, it is possible to obtainthe evaluation of the selection set, that has been made, by means of theselection set evaluation result collecting device. Further, a largenumber of evaluating users can access the selection set evaluationresult collecting device, so that it is possible to obtain various and alarge quantity of evaluations with respect to the selection set that hasbeen made.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluation inputting device according to the present invention isconnected to the aforementioned selection set evaluation resultcollecting device, and is used to input an evaluation of a selection setconstituted of one selection item or a plurality of selection items, andincludes: evaluation inputting means by which an evaluating user inputsthe evaluation of the selection set that has been indicated by theselection set evaluation result collecting device; and evaluationtransmitting means for transmitting the evaluation, that has beeninputted by the evaluation inputting means, to the selection setevaluation result collecting device.

With the foregoing configuration, the evaluating user inputs theevaluation of the selection set, that has been indicated by theselection set evaluation result collecting device, by means of theevaluation inputting means, and transmits the evaluation to theselection set evaluation collecting device by means of the evaluationtransmitting means, so that it is possible to input the evaluation ofthe selection set that has been made by another user.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating system according to the present invention includes: theaforementioned selection set evaluation result collecting device; theaforementioned selection set making device; and the aforementionedselection set evaluation inputting device.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to build a selectionset evaluating system which covers a wide range of users.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the selection setevaluating method according to the present invention includes the stepsof: (i) evaluating the selection set, in accordance with an evaluationrule to evaluate the selection set that has been made by a user makingthe selection set, so as to output an evaluation result; (ii) indicatingthe selection set to an evaluating user; (iii) accepting the evaluatinguser to input an evaluation of the selection set that has beenindicated; and (iv) deriving a total evaluation result in accordancewith (a) the evaluation result obtained in the step (i) and (b) theevaluation inputted in the step (iii), so as to output the totalevaluation result, wherein a program causes a computer to carry out thesteps.

With the foregoing configuration, the selection set that has been madeby the user making the selection set is evaluated in the step (i) inaccordance with the evaluation rule. Further, the selection set isindicated to the evaluating user in the step (ii), and the evaluationmade by the evaluating user is inputted in the step (iii). Further, thetotal evaluation deriving means derives a total evaluation result inaccordance with (a) the evaluation result obtained in the step (i) and(b) the evaluation inputted in the step (iii), so as to output the totalevaluation result.

Thus, the total evaluation result is derived in accordance with (a) theevaluation result based on the evaluation rule which is a specificobjective standard and (b) the evaluation made from a view pointdifferent from the evaluation rule, so that it is possible to obtain amore appropriate evaluation result. Thus, the selecting user can referto the evaluation result of the selection set upon making a newselection set and rectifying the selection set that has been made.

Further, the computer-readable storage medium according to the presentinvention stores a selection set evaluation program which causes acomputer to carry out the means included in the aforementioned selectionset evaluation device, or the means included in the aforementionedselection set evaluation result collecting device, or the means includedin the aforementioned selection set making device, or the means includedin the aforementioned selection set evaluation inputting device.

With the foregoing configuration, a general computer can be used as theselection set evaluation device, or the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device, or the selection set making device, or the selectionset evaluation inputting device, and it is possible to build theselection set evaluating system by means of a computer which operates inaccordance with such program.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the product sellingdevice, which enables a plurality of products to be sold in combination,includes the aforementioned selection set evaluation device, or theaforementioned selection set evaluation result collecting device, or theaforementioned selection set making device, or the aforementionedselection set inputting device, or the aforementioned selection setevaluating system.

With the foregoing configuration, the purchaser can refer to theevaluation result derived with respect to a combination of a pluralityof products, and can obtain a clue for determining the combination, uponcombining the plurality of products so as to purchase the combination.For example, when this is applied to a product selling device by whichsongs are combined as a music album so as to be purchased, the purchasercan learn whether the combination is preferable or not, and can make anew combination by referring to a selection set, made by anotherpurchaser, that is highly evaluated, so as to purchase the selectionset.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the communicationsupporting device according to the present invention, which enablesmessages and the like to be exchanged between a plurality of users,includes the aforementioned selection set evaluation device, or theaforementioned selection set evaluation result collecting device, or theaforementioned selection set making device, or the aforementionedselection set inputting device, or the aforementioned selection setevaluating system.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to support exchange ofmessages and the like between a plurality of users taking about theevaluation of the selection set. For example, when this is applied to adevice for supporting communications concerning music, a plurality ofusers can discus which part is preferable and which part is notpreferable with respect to an arrangement of a music album made bycombining songs.

Note that, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may be arranged so that: one selection item or a plurality ofselection items to be evaluated, that are selected from the selectionitems included in the selection set, are specified via the evaluationinputting means by the evaluating user, so as to be inputted.

Thus, the evaluating user can specify the selection item to beevaluated, that is selected from the selection items included in theselection set, so that it is possible to evaluate a part of theselection set. Thus, it is possible to clearly indicate which part isevaluated, or it is possible to indicate a basis for the evaluation indetail.

Further, the selection set evaluation device may be arranged so that: abasis for the evaluation is inputted together via the evaluationinputting means.

Thus, the evaluating user can input the basis for the evaluation bymeans of the evaluation inputting means, so that the user using theevaluation result can refer to the basis upon judging the adequacy ofthe evaluation result. Further, when the total evaluation deriving meansderives the total evaluation in accordance with only an evaluationresult inputted with a specific basis for the evaluation, such as“relevancy to theme” and “consistency of selection items”, it ispossible to derive the total evaluation from a specific view point.Thus, this makes it easier for the user using the evaluation result touse an evaluation result given from a desired view point.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may include total evaluation result informing means forinforming the total evaluation result, that has been derived by thetotal evaluation deriving means, to the user using the evaluationresult.

Thus, the user using the evaluation result can learn the totalevaluation result of the selection set selected by the selecting user.Further, also the user who has selected the selection set can learn thetotal evaluation of the selection set, so that he/she can rectify theselection set by checking the evaluation result.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may be arranged so that: the total evaluation result informingmeans informs the basis for the evaluation together to the user usingthe evaluation result.

Thus, the user using the evaluation result can learn the basis for theevaluation of the selection set, so that it is possible to judge whetherthe evaluation is appropriate or not. Further, also the user who hasselected the selection set can learn the basis for the evaluation of theselection set, so that it is possible to obtain a clue for rectifyingthe selection set by checking the evaluation result.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention may include selection set ranking means for ranking aplurality of selection sets in accordance with the evaluation resultreceived from the evaluation inputting means or the total evaluationderiving means, wherein a ranking of the selection set is indicated tothe user using the evaluation result.

Thus, the user using the evaluation result can compare the plurality ofselection sets, that have been evaluated, with each other, so that thismakes it easier to use a selection set which is highly evaluated.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the sale managementdevice according to the present invention manages via a network a saleof a product set which is a combination of a plurality of products or aplurality of selective items, and includes: product informationindicating means for indicating information concerning the products to aproduct set maker who is an unspecified user; product set storing meansfor storing the product set, that has been made by the product setmaker, in accordance with the information concerning the products; andproduct set indicating means for indicating to a purchaser (a) theproduct set stored in the product set storing means and (b) theinformation concerning the products.

With the foregoing configuration, the product set maker who is theunspecified user stores the product set, that has been made inaccordance with the information concerning the product indicated by theproduct information indicating means, in the product set storing means.The product set stored in the product set storing means is indicated tothe purchaser by the product set indicating means, so that the purchaserdo not have to take any trouble in determining which combination ofproducts or which combination of selection items is to be purchased.Further, the seller do not have to take any trouble in making theproduct set.

Moreover, it is possible to indicate a product set including a product,which has never been sold, or a selection item, which has not beenselected, to the purchaser. The product set maker can freely make aspecial product set based on a specific theme, so that it is possible toindicate a product set, which cannot be made by a conventional method,to the purchaser.

Note that, an example of the aforementioned selection item is data(music, image, moving image, character information etc.) having aselling value as a product. Further, examples of how the information isindicated to the product set maker or the purchaser include variousforms such as print output, image display, transmission output to acommunication device, and the like.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the sale managementdevice according to the present invention manages a sale of a productset which is a combination of a plurality of products or a plurality ofselective items by transmitting/receiving information to/from a devicehaving a communication function and via a network, and include: productinformation indicating means for transmitting information concerning theproducts to a first device in response to a request from the firstdevice; product set storing means for receiving the product set, thathas been made by an unspecified product set maker in accordance with theinformation concerning the products, from the first device, so as tostore the product set; and product set indicating means for transmitting(a) the product set stored in the product set storing means and (b) theinformation concerning the products to the second device from which arequest for transmission, which may be identical with the first device.

With the foregoing configuration, the product information indicatingmeans transmits the information concerning the product to the firstdevice in response to the request from the first device. The product setmaker who is a user of the first device makes the product set by meansof the first device in accordance with the information concerning theproduct indicated by the product information indicating means.

The product set that has been made is transmitted from the first deviceto the sale management device according to the present invention, and isreceived by the product set storing means, so as to be stored. Theproduct set that has been stored in the product set storing means isindicated to the purchaser, who is a user of the second device, by meansof the product set indicating means, so that the purchaser do not haveto take any trouble in determining which combination of products orwhich combination of selection items is to be purchased. Further, theseller do not have to take any trouble in making the product set.

Moreover, it is possible to indicate a product set including a product,which has never been sold, or a selection item, which has not beenselected, to the purchaser. The product set maker can freely make aspecial product set based on a specific theme, so that it is possible toindicate a product set, which cannot be made by a conventional method,to the purchaser. The product set maker can freely make a specialproduct set based on a specific theme, so that it is possible toindicate a product set, which cannot be made by a conventional method,to the purchaser.

Note that, the second device includes the first device, so that theproduct set maker may be the purchaser.

Further, examples of the device include not only a portable or desk-toptype terminal computer, but also a computer and a work stationconstituting a client/server system, or a cellar phone and the like.

In addition, the sale management device may include additionalinformation obtaining means for receiving additional information fromthe first device, wherein the product set storing means stores theproduct set and the additional information together, and the product setindicating means transmits the additional information together to thesecond device.

With the foregoing configuration, the product set storing means receivesthe additional information, such as a name of the product set, theme ofthe product set, an image and sound expressing an impression of theproduct set, and a comment by which a basis for selecting products orselection items included in the product set is explained, from the firstdevice, so as to transmit the product set and the additional informationin combination.

The product set indicating means transmits the additional informationtogether to the second device, so that the purchaser, who is a user ofthe second device, can obtain a clue for selecting the product set.Further, when information concerning the maker is added as theadditional information, the purchaser can refer to the informationconcerning the maker upon selecting the product set, so that it ispossible to obtain a clue for selecting the product set by selecting theproduct set that has been made by a maker having similar preference.

In addition, the sale management device may include: user informationobtaining means for receiving (a) information concerning the product setmaker from the first device and (b) information concerning a purchaserof the product set from the second device; user information comparingmeans for comparing (a) the information concerning the product set makerand (b) the information concerning the purchaser, so as to derivecompatibility therebetween, wherein the product set indicating meanstransmits the product set such that the compatibility between (a) theinformation concerning the product set maker and (b) the informationconcerning the purchaser is high, in preference, to the second device.

With the foregoing configuration, the user information comparing meanscompares the information concerning the product set maker that has beenreceived from the first device and the information concerning thepurchaser of the product set that has been received from the seconddevice by means of the user information obtaining means so as to derivethe adequacy. The product set indicating means transmits preferentiallya product set, in which the adequacy derived by the user informationcomparing means is high, to the second device.

Thus, it is possible to indicate preferentially a product set made by aproduct set maker having preference similar to that of the purchaser, sothat this makes it easier to indicate a product set that satisfies thepreference of the purchaser.

In addition, the sale management device according to the presentinvention may include product set maker selecting means for selectingthe product set maker from the additional information stored in theproduct set storing means so as to give a benefit to the product setmaker who has made the product set when an instruction to purchase theproduct set is received from the second device, wherein the additionalinformation includes information for identifying the product set maker.

With the foregoing configuration, receiving the instruction to purchasethe product set from the second device, the product set maker selectingmeans refers to the additional information of the product set, andspecifies the product set maker, so as to select the product set maker.The product set maker that has been selected in this manner can obtainbenefit when the product set that has been made is sold, so that it ispossible to motivate the product set maker to make the product set.

Further, the sale management device may include ranking means forsorting (a) the product set stored in the product set storing means or(b) the product set maker, in accordance with a specific rule, whereinthe additional information includes information for identifying theproduct set maker, and the product set indicating means transmits aresult of sorting performed by the ranking means to the second device.

With the foregoing configuration, the product set indicating meanstransmits the result of sorting performed by the ranking means to thesecond device. Thus, by referring to the ranking of the product set, thepurchaser who is a user of the second device can learn which product setis well sold based on a specific standard, and by referring to theranking of the product set maker, the purchaser purchases a product setmade by a product set maker making a popular product set. In thismanner, it is possible to give the purchaser a clue for selecting theproduct set.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the product setmaking device according to the present invention is connected to theaforementioned sale management device, and makes a product set which isa combination of a plurality of products or a plurality of selectiveitems, and includes: product information storing means for temporarilyor continuously storing information concerning the products; product setmaking means by which a product set maker selects the informationconcerning the products, that has been stored in the product informationstoring means, so as to make the product set; and product settransmitting means for transmitting the product set, that has been madeby the product set maker, to the sale management device.

With the foregoing configuration, the product information storing meansindicates to the product set maker (a) the information concerning theproduct continuously stored in the product information storing means and(b) the information concerning the product temporarily stored in theproduct information storing means after having been received from thesale management device for example. The product set maker selects theinformation concerning the indicated product by means of the product setmaking means, so as to make the product set. The product set that hasbeen made is transmitted to the sale management device by the productset transmitting means, so as to be stored. Thus, it is possible tocollect product sets made by a large number of product set makers bymeans of the sale management device.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the product setpurchasing device according to the present invention is connected to theaforementioned sale management device, and is used to purchase a productset which is a combination of a plurality of products or a plurality ofselective items, and includes: product set receiving means for receivingthe product set from the sale management device; product set purchasingmeans to which a purchaser of the product set inputs the information topurchase the product set by selecting the product set that has beenreceived by the product set receiving means; and purchase informationtransmitting means for transmitting information to purchase the productset inputted by the product set purchasing means to the sale managementdevice.

With the foregoing configuration, the product set that has beenindicated by the sale management device is received by the product setreceiving means. The purchaser inputs information to select and purchasethe product set, received by the product set receiving means, by meansof the product set purchasing means, and the information to purchase istransmitted to the sale management device by the purchase informationtransmitting means. Thus, the product set purchasing device is notrequired to store the information concerning the product set, and it ispossible to sell the product set to a large number of product setpurchasers.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the sale managementsystem according to the present invention includes: the aforementionedsale management device; the aforementioned product set making device;and the aforementioned product set purchasing device.

With the foregoing configuration, it is possible to build a salemanagement system which covers a wide range of users.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the sale managementmethod according to the present invention manages a sale of a productset which is a combination of a plurality of products or a plurality ofselective items by transmitting/receiving information via a devicehaving a communication function and a network, and includes the stepsof: transmitting information concerning the products to a first devicein response to a request from the first device; receiving the productset from the first device that has been made by an unspecified productset maker in accordance with the information concerning the products, soas to store the product set; and transmitting (a) the product set thathas been stored and (b) the information concerning the products to asecond device from which a request for transmission has been received,and the product set is transmitted to also the first device in case therequest for transmission is received from the first device, wherein thesteps are carried out by a computer.

With the foregoing configuration, in the step of indicating the productinformation, the information concerning the product is transmitted tothe first device in response to the request from the first device. Theproduct set maker, who is an unspecified user of the first device, makesthe product set by means of the first device in accordance with theinformation concerning the product transmitted in the step of indicatingthe product information.

The product set that has been made is transmitted from the first device,and is received in the step of storing the product set so as to bestored. The product set stored in the step of storing the product set isindicated to the purchaser who is a user of the second device in thestep of indicating the product set, so that the purchaser do not have totake any trouble in determining which combination of products or whichcombination of selection items is to be purchased.

Further, the seller do not have to take any trouble in making theproduct set. Moreover, it is possible to indicate a product setincluding a product, which has never been sold, or a selection item,which has not been selected, to the purchaser. The product set maker canfreely make a special product set based on a specific theme, so that itis possible to indicate a product set, which cannot be made by aconventional method, to the purchaser.

Further, in order to achieve the foregoing object, the computer-readablestorage medium according to the present invention stores a salemanagement program for causing a computer to carry out the meansincluded in the aforementioned sale management device, or the meansincluded in the aforementioned product set making device, or the meansincluded in the aforementioned product set purchasing device.

With the foregoing configuration, a general computer can be used as thesale management device, or the product set making device, or the productset purchasing device, or the sale management system, and it is possibleto build the sale management system by means of a computer whichoperates in accordance with such program.

Note that, the sale management device according to the present inventionmay include user information storing means for storing (a) information,concerning the product set maker, or (b) information, concerning a user,which is information concerning the purchaser, wherein the informationconcerning the user is specified with an identifier, such as a user IDand a number, which is uniquely allocated to indicate information storedin the user information storing means.

Thus, once the information concerning the user is inputted, the user hasonly to input the identifier without inputting the information everytime needed, so that the user does not have to take any trouble ininputting the information.

Further, the sale management device according to the present inventionmay be arranged so that: the ranking means sorts the product set inaccordance with the number of times the product set has been purchased.

Thus, the purchaser can learn which product set is well sold, so thatthe purchaser can obtain a clue for selecting the product set.

Further, the sale management device according to the present inventionmay be arranged so that: the ranking means sorts the product set makerin accordance with a value obtained by totalizing the number of timesthe product set made by the product set maker has been purchased.

Thus, the purchaser can learn the product set maker who makes agood-selling product set, so that he/she can obtain a clue for selectingthe product set.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of theinvention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a rough arrangement of one embodimentof a selection set evaluation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detail arrangement of one embodimentof the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a selection item.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an evaluation rule.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a selection set.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a selection condition parameter.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set is evaluated.

FIG. 8 shows an initial image of the selection set evaluation deviceaccording to the present invention, and illustrates the initial image bywhich a user selects the selection items so as to make the selectionset.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the image in which three selectionitems are selected and the selected items are included in the selectionset being made.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the image in which an evaluation basisdisplay button is clicked and a basic judgment which supports anevaluation result made by selection set evaluating means is displayed.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example where a ranking of the evaluation resultof the selection set is displayed by pushing a ranking display button ofthe image illustrated in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example where the image is switched to anotherimage for setting the evaluation rule by clicking an evaluation rulesetting button of the image illustrated in FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment of aselection set evaluating system according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a selection item.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a selection set.

FIG. 17 shows an example of an evaluation result.

FIG. 18 shows an image of the selection set evaluation device accordingto the present invention, and illustrates an example of the image bywhich a selecting user makes the selection set.

FIG. 19 shows an image of the selection set evaluation device accordingto the present invention, and illustrates an example of the image bywhich the evaluation result is informed to an ordinary user.

FIG. 20 shows an image of the selection set evaluation device accordingto the present invention, and illustrates an example where a detailevaluation concerning the selection set is displayed.

FIG. 21 shows an image of the selection set evaluation device accordingto the present invention, and illustrates an example of the image bywhich an evaluating user inputs an evaluation concerning the selectionset.

FIG. 22 shows an image of the selection set evaluation device accordingto the present invention, and illustrates an example of the image bywhich the evaluating user inputs a partial evaluation concerning theselection set.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set is made.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theevaluation result is inputted.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which thedetail evaluation is confirmed.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluating system according to the present invention.

FIG. 28 shows an example of a selection item.

FIG. 29 shows an example of a selection set.

FIG. 30 shows an example of an evaluation rule.

FIG. 31 shows an example of the evaluation result concerning theselection set.

FIG. 32 shows an example of the partial evaluation result concerning theselection set.

FIG. 33 illustrates a concrete example of an initial state of an imageby which the selecting user selects the selection item so as to make theselection set.

FIG. 34 illustrates a concrete example of an evaluation result informingimage by which a total evaluation result concerning the selection set ismade as a ranking and the ranking of the selection set is informed tothe ordinary user.

FIG. 35 illustrates a concrete example where a detail evaluationconcerning the selection set selected in FIG. 34 is displayed.

FIG. 36 illustrates a concrete example of an image by which theevaluation user inputs an evaluation with respect to the selection setindicated.

FIG. 37 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set is made.

FIG. 38 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set evaluating means evaluates the selection set.

FIG. 39 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theevaluation result is inputted.

FIG. 40 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which thedetail evaluation is confirmed.

FIG. 41 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of a sale managementsystem according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing a sale management system according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 43 shows an example of information concerning a product.

FIG. 44 shows an example of a product set.

FIG. 45 shows a concrete example according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, and illustrates an example of an image by which aproduct set maker makes the product set.

FIG. 46 shows a concrete example according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, and illustrates an example of an image by which ajacket image used as additional information is made.

FIG. 47 shows a concrete example according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, and illustrates an example of an image by which apurchaser confirms a content of the product set so as to purchase theproduct set.

FIG. 48 is a flow chart illustrating a processing flow in which theproduct set is made.

FIG. 49 is a block diagram showing the sale management system accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 50 shows an example of information concerning the product.

FIG. 51 shows an example of information concerning a user.

FIG. 52 shows an example of the product set.

FIG. 53 shows a concrete example according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, and illustrates an example of an image by which theproduct set maker makes the product set.

FIG. 54 shows a concrete example according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, and illustrates an example of an image by which userinformation is inputted.

FIG. 55 shows a concrete example according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, and illustrates an example of an image by which thepurchaser confirms a content of the product set so as to purchase theproduct set.

FIG. 56 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which thepurchaser selects the product set to purchase the product set.

FIG. 57 shows an example where a ranking of sold music CDs is displayedin a conventional manner.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The following description will discuss one embodiment of the presentinvention referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 12.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluation device of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a selection item indicating section which indicatesthe selection items to the selection user, who makes selection thereof,so as to lead the selection user to specify desired selection items andto make a combination thereof as the selection set, and 102 is aselection set evaluating section which evaluates the selection set madeby the selection item indicating section 101 in accordance with acertain evaluation rule, and 103 is an evaluation result informingsection which informs an evaluation result made by the selection setevaluating section 102 to an ordinary user.

The foregoing components may be directly connected to each other, or maybe connected to each other via a network using a telephone line, a radiocommunication, the internet, and the like. Further, the selection itemindicating section 101 may be simultaneously used by a plurality ofusers, and the evaluation result informing section 103 may besimultaneously used by a plurality of users.

Next, 201 is selection item storing means which stores informationconcerning target selection items, and 202 is selection item indicatingmeans which indicates one selection item or a plurality of selectionitems selected from the selection items stored in the selection itemstoring means 201 to the selection user, and 203 is selection itemselecting means by which the selecting user sets each selection item,indicated by the selection item indicating means 202, to a selection ornon-selection state, and 204 is selection set storing means (selectionset storage means) which stores a combination of the selection items,selected by the selecting user with the selection item selecting means203, as the selection set, and 205 is a selection condition parametersetting means which sets a selection condition parameter indicative ofdifferences between the selection items in terms of importance etc. ofthe respective selection items selected in the selection item selectingmeans 203, and 206 is selection condition parameter storing means whichstores the selection condition parameter set by the selection conditionparameter setting means 205, and the respective means 201 to 206constitute the selection item indicating section 201.

Next, 207 is evaluation rule storing means which stores an evaluationrule for determining whether a combination of the selection itemsincluded in the selection set is preferable or not, and 208 isevaluation rule setting means which adds or deletes or rectifies andsets the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means207, and 209 is selection set evaluating means which evaluates theselection set, stored in the selection set storing means 204 inaccordance with the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rulestoring means 207, by referring to the selection condition parameterstored in the selection condition parameter storing means 206, and therespective means 207 to 209 constitute the selection set evaluatingsection 102.

Further, 210 is selection set ranking means which makes a ranking of aplurality of selection sets in accordance with the evaluation resultmade by the selection set evaluating means 209, and 211 is evaluationresult informing means which informs the ordinary user of (a) anevaluation of the selection set evaluated by the selection setevaluating means 209 and (b) an evaluation of the plurality of selectionsets ranked by the selection set ranking means 210, and 212 isevaluation result adequacy setting means by which the ordinary user setsthe adequacy of the evaluation result which is information used by theevaluation rule setting means 208 to rectify the evaluation rule storedin the evaluation rule storing means 207, and the respective means 210to 212 constitute the evaluation result informing section 103.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluating system of the present invention. Anarrangement of the selection set evaluating system is basically similarto the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, but the arrangement of FIG. 2 isdifferent from FIG. 1 in that the system is constituted of (a) aselection set evaluation device 220 for evaluating the selection set and(b) a selection set making device 221 for making the selection set.

In FIG. 2, the means 201 to 212 are the same as those shown in FIG. 1,so that description thereof is omitted. 222 is communication controllingmeans, provided in the selection set evaluation device 220, whichcontrols a communication with a selection set making device 221connected to the selection set evaluation device 220. In the selectionset making device 221, the selection item indicating means 202, theselection condition parameter storing means 206, the evaluation rulesetting means 208, the evaluation result informing means 211, and thecommunication controlling means 222 are connected to each other.

While, in the selection set making device 221, 223 is selection settransmitting means which transmits the selection set made by theselection item selecting means 203 to the selection set evaluationdevice 220, and 224 is evaluation result displaying means which receivesthe evaluation result informed by the evaluation result informing means211 via the communication controlling means 222 so as to display theevaluation result in the selection set making device 221.

The communication controlling means 222 functions as selection itemtransmitting means, which transmits information concerning the selectionitems to the selection set making device 221, in combination with theselection item indicating means 202. That is, the communicationcontrolling means 222 transmits information concerning the selectionitems indicated by the selection item indicating means 202 to theselection set making device 221.

Further, the communication controlling means 222 functions as selectionset receiving means which receives the selection set from the selectionset making device 221. That is, the communication controlling means 222receives the selection set transmitted from the selection settransmitting means 223, and stores the selection set in the selectionset storing means 204.

FIG. 2 shows only one selection set making device 221, but a pluralityof selection set making devices 221 may be connected to the selectionset evaluation device 220 so as to constitute a network using atelephone line, a radio communication, the Internet, and the like. Bymaking such an arrangement, it is possible to make the selection set andevaluate the selection set that has been made covering a wide range ofusers.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the selection items stored in the selectionitem storing means 201. FIG. 3 shows music data as an example. In FIG.3, 301 is an ID which is identification information of the selectionitem, and 302 is a song name, and 303 is an artist name, and 304 is acategory indicative of a type of the song. Thus, one selection item isconstituted of the ID 301, the song name 302, the artist name 303, andthe category 304 that are correspondingly combined with each other. Moregenerally speaking, one selection item is constituted of identificationinformation, content information, and attribute information.

FIG. 4 shows an example the evaluation rule, evaluating the selectionset, which is stored in the evaluation rule storing means 207. In FIG.4, 401 are evaluation rule numbers uniquely allocated in sequence to theevaluation rules stored in the evaluation rule storing means 207, and402 is an evaluation rule type indicative of a type of the evaluationrule, and 403 is an evaluation pattern indicative of a concrete contentof the evaluation rule, and 404 is a grade, set for each evaluationvalue, that is used to calculate the evaluation result of the selectionset.

Thus, one evaluation rule is constituted of the evaluation rule number401, the evaluation rule type 402, the evaluation pattern 403, and thegrade 404, that are correspondingly combined with each other. In FIG. 4,the respective evaluation rules are categorized in accordance with theevaluation rule type 402, but the evaluation rule type 402 may beomitted by writing a type of the evaluation rule in the evaluationpattern 403.

The selection set evaluating means 209 judges whether or not theevaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means 207corresponds to the target selection set. When the evaluation rulecorresponds to the selection set, the selection set evaluating means 209evaluates the selection set in accordance with a calculation resultcalculated by using the grade 404, for example, by adding points of thegrade 404.

The following description concretely exemplifies the evaluation ruleshown in FIG. 4. An evaluation rule 405 whose evaluation rule number 401is 1 is an evaluation rule for evaluating a specific order of theselection items included in the selection set. The evaluation rule 405shows that: when the selection item whose ID 301 is 7 and the selectionitem whose ID 301 is 8 are sequentially selected, the grade 404 is 10.

An evaluation rule 406, another example, whose evaluation rule number401 is 3 shows that: when the selection item whose ID 301 is 1, theselection item whose ID 301 is 4, and the selection item whose ID 301 is3 are sequentially selected, the grade 404 is 7. As exemplified,successive selection items can take arbitrary numbers.

Further, it is not necessary that the order is in sequence, but theevaluation pattern 403 may be such that: arbitrary selection items areincluded therebetween.

An evaluation rule 407, still another example, whose evaluation rulenumber 401 is 4 is an evaluation rule for evaluating a specificcombination of the selection items included in the selection set. Thisevaluation rule shows that: when the selection item whose artist name303 is “Masahiro Hondo” and the selection item whose artist name 303 is“Toshihiro Kawahara” are included in the selection set, the grade 404 is5.

Note that, in the evaluation rule for evaluating the combination, when aplurality of selection items which can be combined with each other existin the selection set, it is possible to make such an interpretation thatall the combinations of the respective selection items are to beevaluated, so that the grade may be counted by adding points of all thecombinations, or it is possible to make such an interpretation that thecombination is a single combination, so that the grade may be countedwith respect to any one of the combinations.

For example, as to the evaluation rule 407 whose evaluation rule number401 is 4, it is assumed that the target selection set includes (a) twoselection items each of which has “Masahiro Hondo” in its artist name303 and (b) two selection items each of which has “Toshihiro Kawahara”in its artist name 303. When this is interpreted as four combinations,the grade is 20, and when this is interpreted as a single combination,the grade is 5.

In this manner, as the number of the target selection items included inthe selection set is larger, the grade is further increased, based onthe former interpretation, so that as more songs are covered, the themeis more emphasized, which is suitable for making an evaluation takingeach arrangement into consideration. Further, even though there are manycovered selection items included in the selection set, the grade doesnot change, based on the latter interpretation. Thus, in case of apersonal computer, even when a plurality of the same parts are included,it is possible to give the same evaluation to them when there is nochange in a function, so that this is suitable for making an evaluationtaking all the selection sets into consideration. Which interpretationis to be performed may be set for each evaluation rule, or may be set bymeans of the selection set evaluating means 209.

Note that, as another example where it is possible to apply the latterinterpretation, the following case may be possible: when a plurality ofsame type (price) products are included in a foodstuff assortment suchas condiments presented as a summer gift or a year-end gift, and thereis no change in a quality rank of the foodstuff assortment, the sameevaluation is made.

Further, other evaluation rules 408, 409, and 410 which are respectively7, 8, and 9 in terms of the evaluation rule number 401 are evaluationrules for comparing characteristics of the selection items, included inthe selection set, so as to evaluate the selection set. The evaluationrule 408 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 7 shows that: when theselection set includes n numbers of selection items each of which has asong name 302 beginning with a word “Ai (love)”, the grade is n points.Further, another evaluation rule 409 whose evaluation rule number 401 is8 shows that: when n numbers of selection items whose category 304 is“Japanese blues (Enka)”, the grade is n points. Further, the evaluationrule 410 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 9 shows that: when a ratioof (a) selection items each of which indicates “pops” as the category304 and (b) selection items each of which indicates “Western music” asthe category 304 is 2:1 in a selection set, the grade is 5. It ispossible to evaluate balance of a combination of the selection itemsincluded in the selection set in accordance with the evaluation rule forevaluating the ratio.

The evaluation rule described above is stored in the evaluation rulestoring means 207, but the evaluation rule setting means 208 adds ordeletes the evaluation rule as rectification so as to reset theevaluation rule during a process in which the selection set evaluationdevice of the present invention is operated, so that it is possible tomake the evaluation rule converge.

It is not necessary that the selection set evaluating means 209 uses allthe evaluation rules stored in the evaluation rule storing means 207upon evaluating the selection set. For example, when only the evaluationrules based on a specific theme are used, it is possible to obtain anevaluation from a specific view point, for example, the evaluation rulecan be changed according to the intended use of a personal computerwhich is to be built.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the selection set stored in the selection setstoring means 204. In FIG. 5, examples of the selection items shown inFIG. 3 are combined with each other, and the IDs 301 are storedaccording to the order 501.

Referring to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, the following description will discuss anexample where the selection set evaluating means 209 evaluates theselection set shown in FIG. 5 in accordance with the evaluation rules,having values of 1 to 9 in terms of the evaluation rule number 401, thatare exemplified in FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, the selection items having valuesof 2 and 3 in terms of a number 501 are selected with them having valuesof 7 and 8 in terms of the ID 301 in order, so that the evaluation rule405 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 1 is applied. The selectionitems having values of 1 and 2 in terms of the order 501 correspond to acombination of (a) a selection item whose artist name 303 is “MasahiroHondo” and (b) a selection item whose artist name 303 is “ToshihiroKawahara”, so that the evaluation rule 407 whose evaluation rule number401 is 4 is applied. The selection items having values of 1 and 3 interms of the order 501 correspond to a combination of (a) a selectionitem whose artist name 303 is “Masahiro Hondo” and (b) a selection itemwhose artist name 303 is “Toshihiro Kawahara”, so that the evaluationrule 407 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 4 is applied. Each ofselection items having values of 2 and 4 in terms of the order 501includes the song name 302 beginning with a word “Ai (love)”, so thatthe evaluation rule 408 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 7 isapplied. Selection items having values of 4 and 5 in terms of the order501 are such that the category 304 is “Japanese Blues (Enka)”, so thatthe evaluation rule 409 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 8 isapplied. As a result, the grade of the selection set is as follows:10+5+5+2+2=24.

Further, FIG. 6 shows an example of the selection condition parameterstored in the selection condition parameter storing means 206. FIG. 6 isdifferent from FIG. 5 in that there is stored an importance 601 which isan example of the selection condition parameter according to the order501. Referring to FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, the following description willdiscuss an example where the selection set evaluating means 209evaluates the selection set shown in FIG. 5 while referring to theselection state parameter shown in FIG. 6 in accordance with theevaluation rules having values of 1 to 9 in terms of the evaluation rulenumber 401 shown in FIG. 4.

Note that, the selection set evaluating means 209 multiplies a grade ofa certain evaluation rule by the importance 601 which is the selectioncondition set for each selection item that is to be evaluated based onthe evaluation rule. In case the evaluation is made in this manner, whenthe grade is based on the evaluation rule for the selection item whoseimportance is set to high, the grade is also high, so that it ispossible to adjust a degree at which the selection condition parametercontributes to the evaluation by setting the importance of the importantselection item, which is an essential item of the selection set, to behigh.

In FIG. 5, selection items having values of 2 and 3 in terms of theorder 501 selected with them having values of 7 and 8 in terms of the ID301 in order, so that the evaluation rule 405 whose evaluation rulenumber 401 is 1 is applied, and the importance 601 of a selection itemhaving a value 2 in terms of the order 501 is 1.0, and the importance601 of a selection item having a value 3 in terms of the order 501 is2.0, so that the grade based on the evaluation rule 405 is as follows:10×1.0×2.0=20.

Likewise, the evaluation rule 407 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 4is applied to selection items having values of 1 and 2 in terms of theorders 501, and the importance 601 of the selection items having valuesof 1 and 2 in terms of the order 501 are 1.0 and 1.0, so that the gradeis as follows: 5×1.0×1.0=5. The evaluation rule 407 whose evaluationrule number 401 is 4 is applied to selection items having values of 1and 3 in terms of the order 501, and selection items having values of 1and 3 in terms of the order 501 are respectively 1.0 and 2.0 in terms ofthe importance 601, so that the grade is as follows: 5×1.0×2.0=10. Theevaluation rule 408 whose evaluation rule number 401 is 7 is applied toselection items having values of 2 and 4 in terms of the order 501, andselection items having values of 3 and 4 in terms of the order 501 are1.0 and 1.0 in terms of the importance 601, so that the grade is asfollows: 2×1.0×1.0=2. The evaluation rule 409 whose evaluation rulenumber 401 is 8 is applied to selection items having values of 4 and 5in terms of the order 501, and selection items having values of 4 and 5in terms of the order 501 are respectively 1.0 and 0.5 in terms of theimportance 601, so that the grade is as follows: 2×1.0×0.5=1. The gradeof the selection set is a total of the foregoing points as follows:20+5+10+2+1=38.

The importance is set for each selection item in this manner, so thatthe grade of the evaluation rule applied to the selection item whoseimportance is set to high largely contributes to the evaluation resultcompared with the case where the importance of all the selection itemsis 1.0. Inversely, the grade of the evaluation rule applied to theselection item whose importance is set to low less contribute to theevaluation result. Thus, the selecting user can obtain the evaluationresult in which the selection item whose importance is set to high isemphasized.

The selection set evaluating means 209 multiplies the selectioncondition parameter by the grade 403 which have been set for eachevaluation rule so as to make an evaluation. Other than this, theselection condition parameter set with respect to a target selectionitem may be evaluated so that the evaluation rule is applied to theselection condition parameter.

In the case of the music album for example, when the selection conditionparameter denotes an editorial effect of music such as fade-in andfade-out, the evaluation rule storing means 207 stores the evaluationrule applied to such combination of the selection items that: aselection condition parameter for a certain selection item denotesfade-out, and another evaluation condition parameter for anotherselection item following to that selection item denotes fade-in. Byarranging in this manner, it is possible to evaluate the selectioncondition parameter which can be additionally set for the selection itemby the selecting user.

Further, a value of the selection condition parameter may be rectifiedwhen the selection set evaluating means 209 evaluates the selection set.For example, when the selection condition parameter is used to count thenumber of times the evaluation rule is applied for each selection itemso as to increase the value every time the evaluation rule is applied,the value of the selection condition parameter denotes a degree at whichthe selection item contributes to the grade. Thus, the evaluation resultinforming means 211 informs the user of the selection conditionparameter reflecting the number of times the evaluation rule is applied,so that it is possible to inform the user of which selection item isimportant.

More concretely, when the selection set evaluating means 209 makes theevaluation in accordance with the evaluation rules, having values of 1to 9 in terms of the evaluation rule number 401, which are exemplifiedin FIG. 4 showing an example of the selection set shown in FIG. 5, theselection condition parameter is increased by 1 every time theevaluation rule is applied. When it is assumed that the selectioncondition parameter for each selection item included in the selectionset is 0, the evaluation rule is applied as described above, so thateach of the selection condition parameters for the selection itemshaving values of 1 to 5 in terms of the order 501 is set to a valueequal to the number of times the evaluation rule is applied. That is,the selection condition parameter for the selection items having valuesof 1, 3, and 4 in terms of the order 501 is 2, and the selectioncondition parameter for the selection item having a value 2 in terms ofthe order 501 is 3, and the selection state parameter for the selectionitem having a value 3 in terms of the order 501 is 1. The values of theselection condition parameters are informed, so that the user can learnthat the selection item having a value 3 in terms of the order 501greatly contributes to the evaluation of the selection set.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set evaluating means 209 of the selection set evaluationdevice whose arrangement is shown in FIG. 1 evaluates the selection setstored in the selection set storing means 204. This process is started(a) when a specific operation is performed, for example, the user pushesa button for starting the evaluation, or (b) right after a new selectionset is made and is registered into the selection set storing means, or(c) when a combination of the selection items included in the selectionset being made is changed, or (d) on a specific time and date, and thelike.

First, the selection set evaluating means 209 reads a target selectionset stored in the selection set storing means 204 (step 701; hereinbelowreferred to as S701 for short). The selection set is additionally madeby the selecting user with the selection item selecting means 203. Theselection set is as exemplified in FIG. 5.

Next, a grade v of the selection set that is stored in the selection setevaluating means 209 is initialized (S702).

Next, a content of the selection item included in the selection set isread from the selection item storing means 201 (S703). For example, theselection item whose order 501 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to theselection item whose ID 301 shown in FIG. 3 is 2, so that the content ofthe selection item (song name 302, artist name 303, category 304) isread. This process is performed with respect to all the selection itemsincluded in the selection set.

Next, the selection condition parameter set for each selection itemincluded in the selection set is read from the selection conditionparameter storing means 206 (S704). For example, the importance 601shown in FIG. 6 is read.

Next, in order to refer to the evaluation rule stored in the evaluationrule storing means 209, a value of a variable i stored in the selectionset evaluating means 209 is initialized (S705).

Next, the evaluation rule having an i-th evaluation rule number is readfrom the evaluation rule storing means 207 (S706). For example, in anexample of the evaluation rule shown in FIG. 4, when the i value is 1,the evaluation rule 405 having a value 1 in terms of the evaluation rulenumber 401 is read.

Next, whether the evaluation rule read in S706 is applied to theselection set or not is judged (S707). The concrete example is asdescribed above. In case where the evaluation rule is applied, theprocess proceeds to S708, and in case where the evaluation rule is notapplied, the process proceeds to S709.

Next, the grade is calculated based on the evaluation rule, and areadded to the grade v (S708). The concrete example is as described above.

Next, the value i is increased by 1 (S709).

Next, whether the i value is larger than the number of the evaluationrules stored in the evaluation rule storing means 207 or not is judged(S710). In case where the i value is larger than the number of theevaluation rules, this means that the evaluation based on all theevaluation rules stored in the evaluation rule storing means 207 isfinished, so that the process is finished. In case where the i value islower than or equal to the number of the evaluation rules, this meansthat the evaluation rule which has not been evaluated exists in theevaluation rule storing means 207, so that the process returns to S706so as to continue the process.

Each of FIG. 8 to FIG. 12 illustrates a concrete example of an image ofthe selection set evaluation device according to the present invention.The selection set evaluation device described in this example alsofunctions as a product selling device for selling the selection set,that has been made, to the selection user or the ordinary user.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an initial state of an image by whichthe user selects the selection items so as to make the selection set. InFIG. 8, 801 is a selection item indicating area for indicating to theuser information concerning the selection items to be selected, and 802is a scroll button for switching the information concerning theselection item displayed in the selection item indicating area 801 toinformation concerning another selection item, and 803 is a selectionset display area for displaying the content of the selection set, beingmade, which is a combination of the selection items selected by theuser, and 804 is a message display area for displaying a message, and805 is an evaluation reason display button for displaying a basis formaking the evaluation result made by the selection set evaluating means209, and 806 is a ranking display button for displaying a ranking of theevaluation results of plural selection sets, and 807 is an evaluationrule setting button for setting the evaluation rule, and 830 is aselection set purchase button for inputting an instruction forpurchasing the selection set that has been made.

Further, the song name 302 and the artist name 303 are displayed in theselection item indicating area 801 as information concerning therespective selection items, and an order 808 of the selection item, asong name 809 of the selection item, and importance 810 are displayed inthe selection set display area 803.

In an example of the image, the selection item indicating means 202 isprovided as the selection item indicating area 801, and the selectionitem selecting means 203 is provided as the selection item display area801 and the selection set display area 803, and the selection conditionparameter setting means 205 is provided as the importance 810 of theselection set display area 803, and the evaluation result informingmeans 211 is provided as the message display area 804.

In order to select the selection item displayed in the selection itemindicating area 801, any one of the displayed song names 302 or any oneof the displayed artist names 303 is pointed by means of a pointing toolsuch as a mouse so as to click it. Alternately, a touch panel may beused so as to give instructions by directly touching the panel, or a keyboard may be used so as to give instructions by moving a cursordisplayed in the selection item indicating area 801. Hereinbelow, theoperation for selecting a displayed target is referred to merely as“click”.

The selected selection item is added to the selection set being made,and is displayed in the selection set display area 803. At this time,the importance 810 of a newly added selection item is set to “middle” asan initial state. The importance 810 is used to adjust the degree atwhich the selection item contributes to the evaluation as describedabove. In this example, the importance 810 is expressed as “high”,“middle”, and “low” so as to facilitate understanding, and theseexpressions are converted into specific values, for example, “high” is2.0, and “middle” is 1.0, and “low” is 0.5, so that these values areused for an internal process such as calculation of the points based onthe evaluation rule.

In order that the user changes the importance 810, the importance 810 ofthe selection item, displayed in the selection set display area 803,that is to be changed, is clicked, so that the values are changed in asequential order. Alternately, a pop-up menu may be displayed uponclicking the importance 810, so as to select a value to be changed fromthe menu.

In order to delete the selection item displayed in the selection setdisplay area 803 from the selection set being made, the song name 809 ofthe selection item to be deleted that is displayed in the selection setdisplay area 803 is clicked.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a condition under which three selectionitems are selected and included in the selection set being made. In theselection set display area 803, the selection items having a value 1 to3 in terms of the order 808 are displayed. Further in this example, theimportance 810 of the selection item having a value 3 in terms of theorder 808 is set to “high” by the user. Further, the evaluation resultmade by the selection set evaluating means 209 with respect to theselection set being made, that is displayed in the selection set displayarea 803, is displayed in the message display area 804.

In this manner, every time a condition of the selection set being madeis changed, for example, a new selection item is added to the selectionset, or the selection item is deleted from the selection set, or theimportance 810 of the selection item included in the selection set ischanged, the selection set evaluating means 209 evaluates the selectionset in real time so as to update the display of the message display area804, so that the user can immediately learn how the evaluation result ischanged due to the change of the selection set being made, therebyfacilitating making and rectifying of the selection set.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example where a basis for the evaluation resultmade by the selection set evaluating means 209 is displayed by clickingthe evaluation basis display button 805 so that five selection items areselected and included in the selection set being made. In the messagedisplay area 804, a message generated in accordance with a content ofthe evaluation rules applied to the selection set is displayed. Further,a frame 811 is given to a selection item, targeted in terms of theevaluation rule, out of the selection items in the selection set displayarea 803.

That is, FIG. 10 shows a condition under which the evaluation rule 405,shown in FIG. 4 as an example of the evaluation rule, whose evaluationrule number 401 is 1 is applied to the selection items having values of2 and 3 in terms of an order and are displayed in the selection setdisplay area 804. The frame 811 is given to the selection items havingvalues of 2 and 3 in terms of the order so as to be displayed, and themessage display area 804 displays (a) a character string “2 and 3 are insequence” generated in accordance with the content of the evaluationpattern 403 of the evaluation rule 405, and (b) a character string“grade is 20” generated in accordance with the grade 10×1.0×2.0=20.0brought about by the evaluation-rule 405.

In case where there are a plurality of evaluation rules applied to theselection set displayed in the selection set display area 803, thetarget evaluation rule may be switched every time the evaluation basisdisplay button 805 is pushed, or the evaluation rule automaticallydisplayed may be switched at certain intervals. Alternately, a wholedisplay image may be switched so that the basis for the evaluationresult made by the selection set evaluating means is displayed indetail.

FIG. 11 shows an example where the selection set ranking means 210 makesa ranking of the evaluation results of a plurality of selection setsstored in the selection set storing means 204 by pushing the rankingdisplay button 806 shown in FIG. 10. 812 is a ranking display area fordisplaying the ranking, and the ranking display area 812 displays anorder 813, a maker 814, and a grade 815 of each selection set. Themessage display area 804 displays a message for informing the user ofthe order of the selection set, being made, upon pushing the rankingdisplay button 806.

In this manner, by referring to the ranking of the selection set thathas been made, it is possible to compare the selection set with anotherselection set made by another user, so that it is possible to obtain amotivation for making a better selection set. Further, it is alsopossible to refer to a content of another selection set, made by anotheruser, which receives a high evaluation, upon making the selection set.Further, the selection set displayed in the ranking display area 812 isselected, and the selection set purchase button 830 is pushed, so thatit is possible to purchase the selection set. Thus, even when theselection set has not been made, it is possible to purchase theselection set, made by another user, which receives a high evaluation.

Note that, the operation in which the user pushes the selection setpurchase button 830 causes the selection set making device 221 shown inFIG. 2 to transmit a purchase instruction to the selection setevaluation device 220 for example, and purchase process controllingmeans (not shown) of the selection set evaluation device 220 carries outspecification of the selection set, acknowledgement of the purchasinguser, a charging process, and the like.

In order to confirm the content of another selection set displayed inthe ranking display area 812, the selection item included in theselection set is displayed in the selection set display area 803 whenthe order 813 or the maker 814 or the grade 815 of the selection setrequired to be confirmed is clicked.

Next, 816 is an evaluation agree button which is pushed in case wherethe selecting user or the ordinary user reads the evaluation of theselection set that is displayed in the selection set display area 803and the user agrees with the evaluation, and 817 is an evaluationnot-agree button which is pushed in case where the selection user or theordinary user reads the evaluation of the selection set that isdisplayed in the selection set display area 803 and the user does notagree with the evaluation. The buttons 816 and 817 do not have to bepushed.

Next, the evaluation rule setting means 208 raises the grade of theevaluation rule, applied to the selection set, that is stored in theevaluation rule storing means 207, in case where the evaluation agreebutton 816 is pushed, and the evaluation rule setting means 208 dropsthe grade in case where the evaluation not-agree button 817 is pushed,so as to update the evaluation rule. In the example of the evaluationrule shown in FIG. 4, a value of the grade 404 is increased by 1 whenthe evaluation agree button 816 is pushed, and the value is decreased by1 when the evaluation not-agree button 817 is pushed. Alternately, thevalue may be updated at a constant rate, for example, the value of thegrade 404 is increased by ten percents or is decreased by ten percents.Further, the upper limit or the lower limit of the grade 404 may be setin advance so that the value of the updated grade 404 is not more orless than the foregoing range. When the value of the grade 404 isupdated so as to be less than the lower limit, this means that theadequacy of the evaluation rule is extremely underestimated, so that theevaluation rule may be deleted from the evaluation rule storing means207.

In this manner, the ordinary user inputs “agree” or “not agree” withrespect to the evaluation, so that it is possible to render theevaluation rule generally appropriate while operating the selection setevaluation device of the present invention.

Note that, when the image of FIG. 11 is to be restored to an image formaking the selection set that is shown in FIG. 8, a selection set makingbutton 818 is clicked.

FIG. 12 shows an example where an image is switched to the image forsetting the evaluation rule by clicking the evaluation rule settingbutton 807 shown in FIG. 10. In FIG. 12, 819 is an evaluation rule typesetting button for setting a type of the evaluation rule, and 820 is anevaluation pattern setting area for inputting or displaying theevaluation pattern, and 821 is a grade setting area for setting a gradeof the evaluation rule, and 822 is an evaluation rule adding button forsetting the evaluation rule, that has been set, in the evaluation rulestoring means 207. Further, the selection set display area 803 displaysan ID 823, an artist name 824, and a category 825, that are informationconcerning the respective selection items, as references for setting theevaluation rules.

The following description will discuss an example of a procedure inwhich a new evaluation rule is set, which is shown in FIG. 12. First,“sequence” is selected as a type of the evaluation rule by using theevaluation rule type setting button 819. Next, 6 and 4 displayed in acolumn of the ID823 in the selection set display area 803 aresequentially clicked. Thus, there is displayed an evaluation patternthat is applied when (a) a selection item whose ID is 6 and (b) aselection item whose ID is 4 are sequentially selected. Next, 3 is setin the grade setting area 821 as a grade of the evaluation rule beingset. Here, an inputted grade is an arbitrary value. Next, the evaluationrule adding button 822 is clicked. Thus, the evaluation rule, in whichthe evaluation rule type is “sequence” and the evaluation pattern is“ID=[6,4]” and the grade is “3”, is added to the evaluation rule storingmeans 207.

In the foregoing example, a content of the selection item displayed inthe selection set area 803 so as to set the evaluation pattern, but theevaluation rule may be directly inputted to the evaluation patternsetting area by using a keyboard and the like. Further, in case where anevaluation rule identical to a newly set evaluation rule in terms of theevaluation pattern has been stored in the evaluation rule storing means207, the newly set evaluation rule may be kept from being stored. It maybe so arranged that: a confirming image is displayed so as to confirmwhether or not to overwrite the evaluation rule, and when permission ofoverwriting is inputted, the evaluation rule stored in the evaluationrule storing means 207 is deleted, and the newly set evaluation rule isstored in the evaluation rule storing means 207.

As described above, the user newly sets an evaluation rule so as to makethe evaluation rule storing means 207 store the newly set evaluationrule, so that it is possible to enrich variation of the evaluation rulewhile operating the selection set evaluation device of the presentinvention, thereby rendering the evaluation rule more appropriate.

The following description will discuss another embodiment of the presentinvention referring to FIG. 13 to FIG. 25.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the selection setevaluation device of the present invention.

In FIG. 13, 2010 is a selection item indicating section in whichselection items to be selected are indicated to the selecting user whomakes selection and the selecting user specifies desired selection itemsso as to make a selection set, and 2011 is a selection set evaluationresult collecting section in which the selection set made by theselection item indicating section 2010 is indicated to the evaluatinguser who evaluates the selection set and the evaluation user inputs theevaluation so that the evaluation result is stored, and 2012 is anevaluation result informing section in which the evaluation resultcollected in the selection set evaluation result collecting section 2011is informed to the selecting user or the ordinary user who refers to orpurchases the selection set.

Next, 2101 is selection item storing means for storing informationconcerning the selection item, and 2102 is selection item indicatingmeans for indicating one selection item or a plurality of selectionitems, selected from the selection items stored in the selection itemstoring means 2101, to the selecting user, and 2103 is selection itemselecting means by which the selecting user sets a selection ornon-selection state of each selection item indicated by the selectionitem indicating means 2102, and 2104 is selection set storing means forstoring a combination of selection items the selection user selects bymeans of the selection item selecting means 2103 as the selection set,and the respective means 2101 to 2104 constitute the selection itemindicating section 2010.

Further, 2105 is selection set indicating means for indicating theselection set stored in the selection set storing means 2104 to theevaluating user, and 2106 is evaluation inputting means by which theevaluating user inputs the evaluation of the selection set indicated bythe selection set indicating means 2105, and 2107 is evaluation resultstoring means for storing the evaluation result, given by the evaluatinguser, that is inputted by the evaluation inputting means 2106, and 2113is message storing means for storing a message inputted by means ofmessage inputting means 2112 described later, and the respective means2105 to 2107 and 2113 constitute the selection set evaluation resultcollecting section 2011.

Further, 2108 is total evaluation deriving means for deriving a totalevaluation result from a plurality of evaluation results of a certainselection set, and 2109 is selection set ranking means for ranking aplurality of selection sets in accordance with (a) the evaluation resultstored in the evaluation result storing means 2107 or (b) the totalevaluation result derived by the total evaluation deriving means 2108,and 2110 is evaluation result informing means for informing (a) theevaluation result stored in the evaluation result storing means 2107, or(b) the total evaluation result derived by the total evaluation derivingmeans 2108, and (c) the message stored in the message storing means2113, to the selecting user or the ordinary user, in accordance with theranking determined by the selection set ranking means 2107, and 2111 isevaluation result adequacy setting means by which the selecting user orthe ordinary user sets the adequacy of the evaluation result, stored inthe evaluation result storing means 2107, that is informed by theevaluation result informing means 2110, and 2112 is message inputtingmeans by which the selecting user or the ordinary user inputs themessage concerning the evaluation result informed by the evaluationresult informing means 2110, and the respective means 2108 to 2112constitute the evaluation result informing section 2012.

The foregoing components may be directly connected to each other, orthey may be connected to each other via a network using a telephoneline, a radio communication, the Internet, and the like. Further, it isnot necessary that different users function as the selecting user, theevaluating user, and the ordinary user separately, but a user mayfunctions as a plurality of users. Further, the selection itemindicating means 2102 may be simultaneously used by a plurality ofselecting users, or the evaluation inputting means 2106 may besimultaneously used by a plurality of evaluating users, or theevaluation result informing means 2110 may be simultaneously used by aplurality of ordinary users.

Further, it is needless to say that: it does not matter whether thestoring means 2101 and 2104 store information temporarily orcontinuously, and it is possible to select the temporary storage orcontinuous storage as usage, and it does not matter whether the storingmeans 2101, 2104, 2107, and 2113 are internally provided or externallyprovided or detachably provided.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluating system of the present invention. This isbasically the same arrangement as the arrangement shown in FIG. 13, butis different in that: this system includes: a selection set evaluationresult collecting device 2201 for collecting the evaluation resultsgiven by the evaluating user; a selection set making device 2202 formaking the selection set; and a selection set evaluation inputtingdevice 2203 for inputting the evaluation of the selection set.

In FIG. 14, 2101 to 2113 are the same as in FIG. 13, so that descriptionthereof is omitted. In the selection set evaluation result collectingdevice 2201, 2114 is communication controlling means for controllingcommunication with (a) the selection set making device 2202 and (b) theselection set evaluation inputting device 2203 that are connected to theselection set evaluation result collecting device 2201, and 2115 isselection set transmitting means for transmitting the selection set madeby the selection item selecting means 2103 to the selection setevaluation result collecting device 2201, and 2116 is evaluationtransmitting means for transmitting the evaluation inputted by theevaluation inputting means 2106 to the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device 2201.

In combination with the selection item indicating means 2102, thecommunication controlling means 2114 functions as selection itemtransmission controlling means for controlling transmission ofinformation concerning the selection item to the selection set makingdevice 2202. That is, information concerning the selection itemindicated by the selection item indicating means 2102 is transmitted tothe selection set making device 2102.

Further, in combination with the selection set indicating means 2105,the communication controlling means 2114 functions as selection settransmission/reception controlling means for receiving the selection setfrom the selection set making device 2202 and transmitting the selectionset to the selection set evaluation inputting device 2203. That is, theselection set transmitted from the selection set transmitting means 2115is received, and the selection set is stored in the selection setstoring means 2104, and the selection set indicated by the selection setindicating means 2105 is transmitted to the selection set evaluationinputting device 2203.

Further, the communication controlling means 2114 functions as selectionset evaluation reception controlling means, and receives the evaluationtransmitted from the evaluation transmitting means 2116, and theevaluation is stored in the evaluation result storing means 2107.

The message inputting means 2112 are provided in the selection setmaking device 2202 and the selection set evaluation inputting device2203, and a message inputted by the selecting user or the evaluatinguser with the message inputting means 2112 is received, and is stored inthe message storing means 2113. The message stored in the messagestoring means 2113 is informed by the evaluation result informing means2110 in combination with the selection set and the evaluation result, sothat it is possible to support communication performed by exchangingmessages concerning the selection set and the evaluation result betweenthe selecting user, the evaluating user, and the ordinary user.

In FIG. 14, only one selection set making device 2202 and only oneselection set evaluation inputting device 2203 are illustrated, but aplurality of selection set making devices 2202 and a plurality ofselection set evaluation inputting devices 2203 may be connected to theselection set evaluation result collecting device 2201 so that a networkusing a telephone line, a radio communication, the Internet, and thelike is constituted. By arranging in this manner, it is possible to makethe selection sets and collect the evaluations of the selection sets sothat a wide range of users are covered.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the selection item stored in the selectionitem storing means 2101. FIG. 15 exemplifies music data. In FIG. 15,2301 is an ID which is identification information of the selection item,and 2302 is a song name, and 2303 is an artist name, and 2304 is acategory indicative of a song type. Thus, a single selection item isconstituted of the ID 2301, the song name 2302, the artist name 2303,and the category 2304, that correspond to each other so as to make acombination. More generally speaking, one selection item is constitutedof identification information, content information, and attributeinformation.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the selection set stored in the selectionset storing means 2104. The ID 2301 of the selection item is stored inaccordance with the order 2402 so as to correspond to a selection setnumber 2401 uniquely added to distinguish one selection set from otherselection sets. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the selection itemsexemplified in FIG. 15 are combined with each other. Further, a maker2403 who made the selection set and a comment 2404 added to theselection set are stored in combination.

In this example, a name of the maker 2403 is stored as character stringdata, but this may be stored in such a manner that: managing data suchas a managing number is added to the name of the maker so as to bestored, and the selection set storing means 2104 stores the managingdata.

FIG. 17 shows an example of the evaluation result stored in theevaluation result storing means 2107. One evaluation result or aplurality of evaluation results 2501 are stored so as to correspond tothe selection set number 2401 shown in FIG. 16. In the example of FIG.16, the evaluation result 2501 includes: an evaluation number 2502uniquely added to distinguish one evaluation result 2501 from otherevaluation results 2501; an evaluator 2503 which is a name of the userinputting the evaluation result 2501; a comment 2504 added to theevaluation result 2501; a grade 2505 described later; and a content ofthe adequacy 2506 of the evaluation result 2501 set by the evaluationresult adequacy setting means 2111.

In this example, the evaluator 2503 is stored as character string data,but when data for managing the name of the evaluator is additionallyprepared as described above, the managing number may be stored.

The grade 2505 is an arbitrary value inputted by the evaluationinputting means 2106 in accordance with a subjective evaluation of theevaluator 2503 that is given with respect to the selection set. In thisexample, the grade 2505 ranges from 0 to 100, but the range of the gradeis not limited to this.

The adequacy 2506 is a value for indicating the adequacy of theevaluation result 2501. As to the adequacy 2506, a value in an initialstate is 1.0, and the value is updated in accordance with the contentthat the user using the evaluation result inputted by means of theevaluation result adequacy setting means 2111. The using method and theupdating method of the adequacy 2506 are more concretely exemplifiedlater.

The following description will discuss an example where the totalevaluation deriving means 2108 derives the total evaluation resultcorresponding to the evaluation result 2501 shown in FIG. 17. Threeevaluation results: an evaluation result 2507 whose evaluation number2502 is 1, an evaluation result 2508 whose evaluation number 2502 is 2,and an evaluation result 2509 whose evaluation number 2502 is 3, arestored corresponding to a selection set whose selection set number 2401is 1. For example, when it is assumed that the total evaluation resultis derived by averaging products of the adequacy 2506 and the grades ofthe respective evaluation results, the total evaluation result of theselection set whose selection set number 2401 is 1 is(92×1.0+40×0.7+80×1.2)/3=72. Other than such deriving method, the totalevaluation result may be derived as follows: distributions of the grade2505 and the adequacy 2506 are calculated in accordance with astatistical technique, and an evaluation result having an idiosyncraticvalue that should be rejected is excluded, and other evaluation resultsare averaged.

The ordinary user refers to the total evaluation result derived in thismanner, so that even when a large number of evaluations are made withrespect to the selection set, it is possible to grasp an entireevaluation appropriately without referring to individual evaluationresults. Further, the total evaluation result is derived by using theadequacy as described above, so that it is possible to obtain the totalevaluation result emphasizing the evaluation result whose adequacy isset to high.

The following description discuss a concrete example of the selectionset evaluation device of the present invention referring to FIG. 18 toFIG. 21.

FIG. 18 shows a concrete example of an image of the selection itemselecting means 2103 by which the selecting user selects an indicatedselection item so as to make a selection set.

In FIG. 18, 2601 is a selection item indicating area for displayinginformation, concerning a selection item to be selected, indicated tothe selecting user by the selection item indicating means 2102, and 2602is a scroll button for switching the information concerning theselection item displayed in the selection item indicating area 2601 toinformation concerning another selection item, and 2603 is a selectionset display area for displaying a content of a selection set, beingmade, that is a combination of the selection items selected by theselecting user, and 2604 is a comment input area to which the selectionuser inputs a comment (message) concerning the selection set, and 2605is a registration button for causing the selection set storing means2104 to store the selection set displayed in the selection set displayarea 2603.

Further, in the selection item indicating area 2601, a song name 2606and an artist name 2607 are displayed as information concerning therespective selection items, and in the selection set display area 2603,an order 2608 and the song name 2609 of the selection item aredisplayed.

In order to select the selection item displayed in the selection itemindicating area 2601, a displayed song name or artist name is pointed byusing a pointing tool such as a mouse, so as to click a button thereof.Alternately, a touch panel may be used so as to give instructions bydirectly touching the panel, or a key board may be used so as to giveinstructions by moving a cursor displayed in the selection itemindicating area 2601. Hereinbelow, the operation for selecting adisplayed target is referred to merely as “click”.

The selected selection item is added to the selection set being made,and is displayed in the selection set display area 2603. Inversely, inorder to delete the selection item displayed in the selection setdisplay area 2603 from the selection set being made, the song name 2609of the selection item to be deleted that is displayed in the selectionset display area 2603 is clicked.

The selecting user repeats an operation for selecting a selection itemdisplayed in the selection item indicating area 2601 so as to add theselection item to the selection set being made, or an operation forselecting a selection item displayed in the selection item indicatingarea 2601 so as to delete the selection item from the selection setbeing made, so that the selection set that is desired by the user ismade. It is possible to store the selection set, that has been made, inthe selection set storing means 2104 by pushing the registration button2605.

In addition to the example shown in FIG. 18, when there is furtherprovided a maker name input area by which the selecting user inputshis/her own name, it is possible to input a name of the maker 2403 ofthe selection set exemplified in FIG. 16, so as to be stored in theselection set storing means 2104 in combination. Alternately, a name ofthe selecting user, such as a log-in name, that has been inputted uponusing a terminal or a software using the image for making the selectionset that is shown in FIG. 18, may be stored in the selection set storingmeans 2104 as the maker 2403 in the selection set exemplified in FIG.16.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of an evaluation result informing imagesuch that: the total evaluation results derived by the total evaluationderiving means 2108 from the evaluation results stored in the evaluationresult storing means 2107 are ranked by the selection set ranking means2109, and the evaluation result informing means 2110 informs theevaluation results to the ordinary user.

The ordinary user can grasp which selection set is highly evaluated byreferring to a list of the selection sets, ranked in accordance with thetotal evaluation results, that are displayed in the evaluation resultinforming image, so that it is possible to make a new selection set byreferring to a combination of the selected items included in ahighly-evaluated selection set. Alternately, in the product sellingdevice including the selection set evaluation device of the presentinvention or the selection set evaluating system of the presentinvention, the selection set that is displayed can be purchased as itis, so that it is not required to select the selection items uponpurchasing the selection set, and it is possible to purchase thecombination of the selected items included in the highly-evaluatedselection set.

In FIG. 19, 2701 is a ranking display area for displaying a ranking ofthe selection sets, and 2702 is a scroll button for switching theselection sets displayed in the ranking display area 2701. Further, inthe ranking display area 2701, an order 2703 of the ranking, a maker2704 of the selection set, a comment 2705 on the selection set, and agrade 2706 are correspondingly displayed. In the grade 2706 of theselection set, a grade of the total evaluation result derived by thetotal evaluation deriving means 2108 is displayed. A concrete example ofderiving the total evaluation result is as described above.

For example, it is assumed that: the grade of the total evaluationresult derived, with respect to the selection set exemplified in FIG.16, from the evaluation result exemplified in FIG. 17 is 2072, and theselection set ranking means 2109 ranks the selection set as a top. Thus,the order 2703 in the ranking display area 2701 corresponds to the top,and “DJ mina” a content of the maker 2403 shown in FIG. 16 is displayedin the maker 2704, and “I made the album in memory of old days” acontent of the comment 2404 shown in FIG. 16 is displayed in the comment2705, and 72 which is a grade of the total evaluation result derived bythe total evaluation deriving means 2108 is displayed in the grade 2706.

In FIG. 19, the selection set, having been evaluated by the evaluatinguser, which has some points as the grade, is displayed, but a selectionset that has not been evaluated may be displayed in the ranking so thatthe selection set has a predetermined grade such as 0 point. At thistime, when a mark indicating that the selection set has not beenevaluated is displayed, the ordinary user can distinguish the selectionset, that has not been evaluated, from other selection sets.Alternately, a display area for displaying only a selection set that hasnot been evaluated may be additionally prepared.

When a selection set displayed in the ranking display area 2701 isclicked, the image is switched to an image for displaying detailinformation of the selection set as shown in FIG. 20. FIG. 20 shows anexample where the evaluation result informing means 2110 displays thedetail evaluation content concerning the selection set selected in FIG.19.

In FIG. 20, 2801 is a maker display area for displaying a name of theselecting user who made the selection set, and 2802 is a comment displayarea for displaying a comment the selection user inputted upon makingthe selection set, and 2803 is a selection set display area fordisplaying selection items included in the selection set, and 2804 is atotal evaluation result display area for displaying a total evaluationresult of the selection set that has been derived by the totalevaluation deriving means 2108, and 2805 is a lowest grade display areafor displaying the lowest grade of the evaluation results stored in theevaluation result storing means 2107, and 2806 is a highest gradedisplay area for displaying the highest grade of the evaluation resultsstored in the evaluation result storing means 2107, and 2807 is anevaluation result display area for displaying a list of the evaluationresults of the selection set that are stored in the evaluation resultstoring means 2107, and 2808 is a scroll button for switching theevaluation results displayed in the evaluation result display area 2807,and 2809 is an evaluation agree button which is pushed in case where theselecting user or the ordinary user agrees with one of the evaluationresults displayed in the selection set display area 2807, and 2810 is anevaluation not-agree button which is pushed in case where the selectinguser or the ordinary user does not agree with one of the evaluationresults displayed in the selection set display area 2807, and 2811 is anevaluation input button for switching to an image in which a newevaluation of the selection set is inputted, and 2850 is a selection setpurchase button for purchasing the selection set. Note that, an exampleof the image for inputting a new evaluation is described later in FIG.21.

Further, in the selection set display area 2803, the selection item'sorder 2812 and the selection item's song name 2813 are correspondinglydisplayed, and in the evaluation result display area 2807, (a) theevaluator 2814 which is a name of the evaluating user who made theevaluation, (b) the comment 2815 which the evaluation user inputted asto the evaluation result, and (c) the grade 2816 which is the evaluationresult are correspondingly displayed.

One of the evaluation results displayed in the evaluation result displayarea 2807 is selected by clicking, and the evaluation agree button 2809or the evaluation not-agree button 2810 is pushed, so that the ordinaryuser can set the adequacy 2506 of the evaluation result. The adequacy2506 is expressed in a form of a value stored in the evaluation resultstoring means 2107 in combination with the evaluation results, asdescribed based on FIG. 17.

For example, as a value in an initial state of the adequacy 2506, 1.0 isset with respect to a newly inputted evaluation result 2501. Every timethe ordinary user pushes the evaluation agree button 2809 as to theevaluation result 2501, the value of the adequacy 2506 is increased by0.1, and every time the ordinary user pushes the evaluation not-agreebutton 2810 as to the evaluation result 2501, the value of the adequacy2506 is decreased by 0.1. For example, in case where the adequacy 2506stored in the evaluation result storing means 2107 is 1.2, when theevaluation agree button 2809 is pushed one time, the value of theadequacy 2506 is updated to 1.3.

The value of the adequacy 2506 updated in this manner is multiplied bythe grades of the respective evaluation results 2501 as described in theexample where the total evaluation deriving means 2108 derives the totalevaluation result, so that it is possible to derive the total evaluationresult so that the evaluation result 2501 whose adequacy 2506 is high isemphasized.

Note that, the value at which the adequacy 2506 is updated is notlimited to the foregoing example. Further, when the lower limit and theupper limit are given to the value of the adequacy 2506 in advance, itis possible to prevent the value of the adequacy 2506 from beingreflected to the total evaluation result.

In combination with each evaluation result displayed in the evaluationresult display area 2807, the value of the adequacy 2506 of theevaluation result is displayed, so that it is possible to give theordinary user a clue for judging whether the evaluation result isreliable or not. In this case, when marks such as asterisks whosequantity corresponds to the value of the adequacy 2506 are added, or adisplay color of the evaluation result is changed, instead of indicatingthe adequacy 2506 in a form of a value, it is possible to intuitivelyjudge the reliability.

Further, as described above, the ordinary user selects the selection setin the evaluation result informing image as described in FIG. 19, andconfirms its content and the evaluation result, made by the evaluationuser, by means of the image displaying the detail evaluation contentconcerning the selection set described in FIG. 20, and pushes theselection set purchase button 2850, so that the ordinary user canpurchase the selection set. Thus, the ordinary user can purchase theselection set, which has been made by other user and is highly evaluatedby the evaluating user, without making the selection set.

Next, FIG. 21 illustrates an example of an image by which the evaluatinguser inputs the evaluation with respect to the selection set indicatedby the selection set indicating means 2105. Concretely, when theevaluation input button 2811 is pushed with respect to the selection setwhose contents are displayed in the maker display area 2801, the commentdisplay area 2802, and the selection set display area 2803 that areshown in FIG. 20, the image shown in FIG. 20 is switched to the imageshown in FIG. 21, so that the evaluating user can input the evaluationwith respect to the selection set.

In FIG. 21, 2801 is a maker display area for displaying a name of theselecting user who made the selection set, and 2803 is a selection setdisplay area for displaying the selection items included in theselection set, and an order 2812 of the selection item and a song name2813 of the selection item are displayed in the selection set displayarea 2803. In this point, FIG. 21 is the same as FIG. 20.

In addition, 2901 is an evaluator name input area for inputting a nameof the evaluating user, and 2902 is a grade input area for inputting agrade subjectively determined by the evaluating user as the evaluationresult of the selection set displayed in the selection set display area2803, and 2903 is a comment input area for inputting a comment such as abasis for the evaluation result made by the evaluator, and 2904 is aregistration button by which the evaluation results inputted in theevaluator name input area 2901., the grade input area 2902, and thecomment input area 2903 are registered so as to be stored in theevaluation result storing means 2107.

Note that, in the foregoing description, the grade that the evaluatinguser inputs to the grade input area 2902 is subjectively determined, butthe input of the grade may be performed as follows: one or a pluralityof evaluated selection items included in the selection set are specifiedvia the evaluation inputting means 2106 by the evaluating user so thatpartial evaluations can be inputted, so as to indicate a basis fordetermining the grade. FIG. 22 shows an example of an image forinputting such partial evaluations.

In FIG. 22, a partial evaluation input area 2905 is added to theevaluation input image shown in FIG. 21, and a displaying state thereofis shown. The partial evaluation input area 2905 includes: an evaluationtarget input area 2906 in which the selection item included in theselection set is specified and inputted; an evaluation focus input area2907 for inputting an evaluation focus which indicates which point ofthe selection set is focused on upon performing the partial evaluation;and a partial grade input area 2908 for inputting a partial gradeindicative of the partial evaluation result.

Note that, examples of the evaluation focus include (a) an orderconcerning how the selection items included in the selection set aresuccessively disposed, (b) a combination of the selection items, (c)whether the selection item is based on the theme or not when theselection items are songs, (d) a combination ratio of categories of thesongs, (e) a combination ratio of tempos of songs, and the like.

Further, the evaluating user can freely make the following decision: (a)whether or not to input all the partial grades which are bases for thegrades inputted to the grade input area 2902 by the evaluating user sothat a total of the partial grade is identical to the grade inputted tothe grade input area 2902, or (b) whether or not to input only thepartial evaluation result.

Thus, the example of FIG. 22 shows only three columns, disposed in thepartial evaluation input area 2905, in which the partial evaluations areinputted, but the number of the partial evaluations that can be inputtedby the evaluating user is not limited to this. For example, there isadditionally provided a scroll button for switching the display state sothat fourth and more columns can receive inputs of the partialevaluations, thereby inputting new partial evaluations.

Besides, the order 2812 of the selection items displayed in theselection set display area 2803 is inputted to the evaluation targetinput area 2906. When a desired order 2812 is clicked, a number of theclicked order 2812 to be added to the evaluation target input area 2906that is being subjected to the input. This makes it easier to performthe input.

Next, FIG. 23 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow inwhich the selection set is made in the image, exemplified in FIG. 18, bywhich the selecting user makes the selection set by selecting theindicated selection items.

First, the process is entirely initialized (step 1001; hereinbelowreferred to as S1001 for short). In the example shown in FIG. 18, someof the selection items stored in the selection item storing means 2101are displayed in the selection item indicating area 2601 as a process ofS1001, and the selection set display area 2603 and the comment inputarea 2604 are cleared. Further, the selection set, being made, that isstored in the selection item selecting means 2103, is cleared. Anyselection item can be displayed in the selection item indicating area2601, but it is preferable to display a displayable number of theselection items, stored in the selection item storing means 2101, in theselection item indicating area 2601.

Next, judgment is given on whether the selection item displayed in theselection item indicating area 2601 has been clicked or not (S1002). Ina case where the selection item has been clicked, the process proceedsto S1003, and in a case where the selection item has not been clicked,the process proceeds to S1004.

In the case where the selection item has been clicked in S1002, theselection item is added to the selection set being made (S1003).Thereafter, the process proceeds to S1006.

In the case where the selection item has not been clicked in S1002,judgment is given on whether the selection item, included in theselection set, that is displayed in the selection set display area 2603,has been clicked or not (S1004). In a case where the selection item hasbeen clicked, the process proceeds to S1005, and in a case where theselection item has not been clicked, the process proceeds to S1007.

In the case where the selection item has been clicked, the selectionitem is deleted from the selection set being made (S1005).

Next, after the processes S1003 and S1005, the display of the selectionset display area 2603 is updated in accordance with a content of theselection set being made (S1006). Thereafter, the process returns toS1002.

In the case where the selection item has not been clicked in S1004,judgment is given on whether the registration button 2605 has beenpushed or not (S1007). In a case where the registration button 2605 hasbeen pushed, the process proceeds to S1008. In the case where theregistration button 2605 has not been pushed, the process returns toS1002.

In the case where the registration button 2605 has been pushed in S1007,judgment is given on whether the selection set being made has beencompleted or not (S1008). That is, when at least one selection item isnot included in the selection set, it is judged that the selection sethas not been completed. In a case where a predetermined number ofselection items are included in the selection set, whether it isregarded as completion or not is a matter of design variation. In thecase where the selection set being made has been completed, the processproceeds to S1009. In the case where the selection set being made hasnot been completed, the process returns to S1002.

In the case where the selection set being made has been completed inS1008, the selection set being made is registered and stored in theselection set storing means 2104 in combination with the commentinputted to the comment input area 2604 (S1009), and the process isfinished.

Next, FIG. 24 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow inwhich the evaluation result is inputted in the image, exemplified inFIG. 21, by which the evaluating user inputs the evaluation of theselection set indicated by the selection set indicating means 2105.

First, the process is entirely initialized (S1101). In the example shownin FIG. 21, a content of the selection set that is to be evaluated isreferred to in accordance with the selection set storing means 2104, andthe maker 2403 is displayed in the maker display area 2801 and thecomment 2404 is displayed in the comment display area 2802. Further,information concerning the selection item included in the selection setis referred to in accordance with the selection item storing means 2101so as to be displayed in the selection set display area 2803. Further,the evaluator name input area 2901, the grade input area 2902, and thecomment input area 2903 are cleared.

Hereinbelow, areas for inputting the evaluation results, such as theevaluator name input area 2901, the grade input area 2902, and thecomment input area 2903, are collectively referred to as an evaluationresult input area.

Next, judgment is given on whether the evaluation result has beeninputted to the evaluation result input area or not (S1102). In a casewhere the evaluation result has been inputted, the process proceeds toS1103, and in a case where the evaluation result has not been inputted,the process proceeds to S1105.

In the case where the evaluation result has been inputted in S1102, theinputted evaluation result is stored (S1103). The inputted evaluationresult may be stored in a temporary storage area provided in theevaluation inputting means 2106, or may be stored in the respectiveevaluation result input areas.

After S1103, the display content of the evaluation result input area isupdated so as to correspond to the evaluation result inputted in S1103(S1104). Thereafter, the process returns to S1102.

In the case where the evaluation result has not been inputted in S1102,judgment is given on whether the registration button 2904 has beenpushed or not (S1105). In a case where the registration button 2904 hasbeen pushed, the process proceeds to S1106. In a case where theregistration button 2904 has not been pushed, the process returns toS1102.

In the case where the registration button 2904 is judged to have beenpushed, judgment is given on whether an essential matter of theevaluation result has been inputted or not (S1106). As exemplified inFIG. 21, in a case where there are a plurality of evaluation resultinput areas, it is a matter of design variation which evaluation resultinput area needs to receive the input. In the case where the essentialmatter of the evaluation result has been inputted, the process proceedsto S1107. In the case where the essential matter of the evaluationresult has not been inputted, the process returns to S1102.

In the case where the essential matter of the evaluation result isjudged to have been inputted in S1106, the inputted evaluation result isregistered to the evaluation result storing means 2107 (S1107), and theprocess is finished.

Lastly, referring to (a) the example of the evaluation result informingimage shown in FIG. 19 and (b) the example where the detail evaluationcontent of the selection set shown in FIG. 20 is displayed, FIG. 25illustrates a processing flow in which the ordinary user confirms thedetail evaluation content of the selection set by checking the rankingof the selection set.

First, the selection set ranking means 2109 sorts the selection setsstored in the selection set storing means 2104 in descending order ofthe total evaluation results derived, by the total evaluation derivingmeans 2108, from the evaluation results, made with respect to theselection sets, that are stored in the evaluation result storing means2107 (S1201). A generally-known sorting algorithm is used, so thatdetail description thereof is omitted.

Next, the evaluation result informing means 2110 displays the selectionset in accordance with the ranking derived in S1201 (S1202). A concreteexample of the display is as illustrated in FIG. 19.

Next, judgment is given on whether the selection set displayed in S1202has been clicked or not (S1203). In a case where the selection set hasbeen clicked, the process proceeds to S1204. In a case where theselection set has not been clicked, the process returns to S1203.

In the case where the selection set has been clicked in S1203, theevaluation result informing means 2110 displays the detail content ofthe selection set by referring to the selection set storing means 2104and the selection item storing means 2101 (S1204). A concrete example ofthe display is as exemplified by the maker display area 2801, thecomment display area 2802, and the selection set display area 2803 shownin FIG. 20.

Next, the evaluation result informing means 2110 displays the detailevaluation result of the selection set that is stored in the evaluationresult storing means 2107 (S1205). A concrete example thereof is asexemplified by the total evaluation result display area 2804, the lowestgrade display area 2805, the highest grade display area 2806, and theevaluation result display area 2807, that are shown in FIG. 20.

Next, judgment is given on whether the evaluation agree button 2809 orthe evaluation not-agree button 2810, shown in FIG. 20, that is theevaluation result adequacy setting means 2111, has been pushed or not(S1206). In a case where each of the buttons has been pushed, theprocess proceeds to S1207. In a case where each of the buttons has notbeen pushed, the process proceeds to S1208.

In the case where the evaluation agree button 2809 or the evaluationnot-agree button 2810 has been pushed, the evaluation result adequacysetting means 2111 updates the adequacy of the evaluation result,concerning the selection set stored in the evaluation result storingmeans 2107, in accordance with a type of the pushed button (S1207). Anexample of how the adequacy is updated is as described above. Afterperforming the process of S1207, the process returns to S1206.

In S1206, in the case where neither the evaluation agree button 2809 northe evaluation not-agree button 2810 have been pushed, judgment is givenon whether the evaluation input button 2811 has been pushed or not(S1208). In a case where the evaluation input button 2811 has beenpushed, the process proceeds to S1209. In a case where the evaluationinput button 2811 has not been pushed, the process returns to S1206.

In the case where the evaluation input button 2811 has been pushed inS1207, the display image is switched to the image, shown in FIG. 21, bywhich the evaluation is inputted (S1209), and the process is finished.

The following description will discuss still another embodimentreferring to FIG. 26 to FIG. 40.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluation device of the present invention.

In FIG. 26, 3102 is a selection item indicating section which indicatesselection items to a selecting user who makes selection so that theselecting user specifies desired selection items so as to make acombination of the specified selection items as a selection set, and3104 is a selection set evaluating section which derives evaluationresults, concerning the selection set made by the selection itemindicating section 3102, in accordance with a certain evaluation rule,and indicates the selection set to an evaluating user who makes anevaluation so that the evaluating user inputs the evaluation, andcollects the evaluation results, and 3106 is an evaluation resultinforming section which informs the evaluation results derived orcollected by the selection set evaluating section 3104 to the selectinguser or an ordinary user who refers to or purchases the selection set.

Next, 3201 is selection item storing means for storing informationconcerning target selection items, and 3202 is selection item indicatingmeans for indicating one selection item or more selection items of theselected items stored in the selection item storing means 3201 to theselecting user, and 3203 is selection item selecting means for setting aselection or non-selection state of each selection item indicated by theselecting user with the selection item indicating means 3202, and 3204is selection set storing means for storing a combination of theselection items selected by the selecting user with the selection itemselecting means 3203, and the respective means 3201 to 3204 constitutethe selection item indicating section 3102.

Next, 3205 is evaluation rule storing means for storing an evaluationrule by which whether the combination of the selection items included inthe selection set is preferable or not is evaluated, and 3206 isevaluation rule setting means which sets the evaluation rule, stored inthe evaluation rule storing means 3205, by adding or deleting orrectifying the evaluation rule, and 3207 is selection set evaluatingmeans for evaluating the selection set, stored in the selection setstoring means 3204, in accordance with the evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means 3205, and 3208 is selection set indicatingmeans for indicating the selection set stored in the selection setstoring means 3203 to the evaluating user, and 3209 is evaluationinputting means by which the evaluating user inputs the evaluation ofthe selection set indicated by the selection set indicating means 3208,and 3210 is evaluation result storing means which stores (a) theevaluation result made by the selection set evaluating means 3207 and(b) the evaluation result, made by the evaluating user, that has beeninputted by the evaluation inputting means 3209, and stores the adequacyof the evaluation result, set by evaluation result adequacy settingmeans 3215 described later, in combination with a correspondingevaluation result, and the respective means 3205 to 3210 constitute theselection set evaluating section 3104.

Further, 3211 is total evaluation deriving means for deriving a totalevaluation result in accordance with a plurality of evaluation resultsof a certain selection set that is stored in the evaluation resultstoring means 3210, and 3213 is selection set ranking means for rankinga plurality of selection sets in accordance with the evaluation resultsstored in the evaluation result storing means 3210 or the totalevaluation result derived by the total evaluation deriving means 3211,and 3213 is evaluation result informing means which informs theevaluation results, stored in the evaluation result storing means 3210,or the total evaluation result, derived by the total evaluation derivingmeans 3211, to the selecting user or the ordinary user, in accordancewith the ranking determined by the selection set ranking means 3212, and3214 is evaluation rule extracting means which extracts a new evaluationrule from at least either (a) the evaluation result, stored in theevaluation result storing means 3210, that has been inputted by theevaluating user, or (b) adequacy of the evaluation result that has beenset by evaluation result adequacy setting means 3215 described later, soas to add the new evaluation rule to the evaluation rule storing means3205 via the evaluation rule setting means 3206 or update the evaluationrule via the evaluation rule setting means 3206, and 3215 is theevaluation result adequacy setting means by which the ordinary user setsthe adequacy of the evaluation result which is information used so thatthe evaluation rule setting means 3206 rectifies the evaluation rulestored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205 or used so that theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 extracts the new evaluation rule,and the respective means 3211 to 3215 constitute the evaluation resultinforming section 3106.

The foregoing components may be directly connected to each other, orthey may be connected to each other via a network using a telephoneline, a radio communication, the Internet, and the like. Further, aplurality of recommended selection indicating sections 3102 may besimultaneously used by a plurality of selecting users, or a plurality ofselection set evaluating sections 3104 may be simultaneously used by aplurality of evaluating users, or a plurality of evaluation resultinforming sections 3106 may be simultaneously used by a plurality ofordinary users.

Further, it is needless to say that: it does not matter whether thestoring means 3201 and 3204 store information temporarily orcontinuously, and it is possible to select the temporary storage orcontinuous storage as required, and it does not matter whether thestoring means 3201, 3204, 3205, and 3210 are internally provided orexternally provided or detachably provided.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe selection set evaluating system of the present invention. This isbasically the same arrangement as the arrangement shown in FIG. 26, butis different in that: this system includes: a selection set evaluationresult collecting device 3250 for collecting the evaluation results madeby the evaluating user; a selection set making device 3260 for makingthe selection set; a selection set evaluation inputting device 3270 forinputting the evaluation of the selection set; and an evaluation resultusing device 3280 by which the ordinary user refers to and uses theevaluation results collected by the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device 3250.

In FIG. 27, 3201 to 3215 are the same as in FIG. 26, so that descriptionthereof is omitted. In the selection set evaluation result collectingdevice 3250, 3216 is message storing means for storing a message,concerning the selection set and the evaluation result, that has beenreceived from (a) the selection set making device 3260, or (b) theselection set evaluation inputting device 3270, or (c) the evaluationresult using device 3280, and 3217 is communication controlling meansfor controlling communication with (a) the selection set making device3260, (b) the selection set evaluation inputting device 3270, and (c)the selection set evaluation inputting device 3280, that are connectedto the selection set evaluation result collecting device 3250.

Further, in the selection set making device 3260, 3218 is selection settransmitting means for transmitting the selection set made by theselection item selecting means 3203 to the selection set evaluationresult collecting device 3250, and 3219 is a message inputting devicefor inputting a message such as a comment concerning the selection setand the evaluation result so as to transmit the message to the selectionset evaluation result collecting device 3250. Note that, the messageinputting devices 3219 are provided in the selection set evaluationinputting device 3270 and the selection set evaluation inputting device3280.

Further, in the selection set evaluation inputting device 3270, 3220 isevaluation transmitting means for transmitting the evaluation inputtedby the evaluation inputting means 3209 to the evaluation resultcollecting device 3250. In the selection set evaluation inputting device3280, 3221 is evaluation result displaying means for displaying theevaluation result received from the evaluation result informing means3213, and 3222 is message displaying means for displaying a messagereceived from the message storing means 3216.

Note that, in combination with the selection item indicating means 3202,the communication controlling means 3217 functions as selection itemtransmission controlling means for controlling transmission ofinformation concerning the selection item to the selection set makingdevice 3260. That is, the information concerning the selection itemindicated by the selection item indicating means 3202 is transmitted tothe selection set making device 3202.

Further, in combination with the selection set indicating means 3208,the communication controlling means 3217 functions as selection settransmission/reception controlling means which receives the selectionset from the selection set making device 3260 and transmits theselection set to the selection set evaluation inputting device 3270.That is, the selection set transmitted by the selection set transmittingmeans 3218 is received, and the selection set is stored in the selectionset storing means 3204, and the selection set indicated by the selectionset indicating means 3208 is transmitted to the selection set evaluationinputting device 3270.

Further, the communication controlling means 3217 functions as selectionset evaluation reception controlling means, and receives the evaluationtransmitted from the evaluation transmitting means 3220, and stores theevaluation in the evaluation result storing means 3210.

A message inputted by the selecting user or the evaluating user or theordinary user via message inputting means 3208 provided in the selectionset making device 3260, the selection set evaluation inputting device3270, and the evaluation result using device 3280 is received by thecommunication controlling means 3217, and is stored in the messagestoring means 3216. The message storing means 3216 causes the evaluationresult informing means 3213 to transmit the message, storedcorresponding to the selection set and the evaluation result, to theevaluation result using device 3280.

In this manner, it is possible to support the communication performed byexchanging a message concerning the selection set and the evaluationresult between the selecting user, the evaluating user, and the ordinaryuser.

In FIG. 27, only one selection set making device 3260 and only oneselection set evaluation inputting device 3270 and only one evaluationresult using device 3280 are illustrated, but a plurality of selectionset making devices 3260 and a plurality of selection set evaluationinputting devices 3270 and a plurality of evaluation result usingdevices 3280 may be connected to the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device 3250 so that a network using a telephone line, a radiocommunication, the Internet, and the like is constituted. By arrangingin this manner, it is possible to make the selection sets and collectthe evaluations of the selection sets so that a wide range of users arecovered.

Further, it is not necessary that the selection set making device 3260and the selection set evaluation inputting device 3270 and theevaluation result using device 3280 are separately provided, but theymay be combined with each other as a single terminal device. Forexample, when the selection set making device 3260 and the evaluationresult using device 3280 are combined with each other as a singleterminal device, the selection set and the evaluation result that havebeen received from the selection set evaluation result collecting device3250 can be referred to so as to make a new selection set. This can berealized also by a program which causes a device such as a typicalpersonal computer to function as the selection set making device 3260,the selection set evaluation inputting device 3270, and the evaluationresult using device 3280.

FIG. 28 shows an example of the selection item stored in the selectionitem storing means 3201. FIG. 28 exemplifies music data. In FIG. 28,3301 is an ID which is identification information of the selection item,and 3302 is a song name, and 3303 is an artist name, and 3304 is acategory indicative of a song type. Thus, a single selection item isconstituted of the ID 3301, the song name 3302, the artist name 3303,and the category 3304, that correspond to each other so as to make acombination. More generally speaking, one selection item is constitutedof identification information, content information, and attributeinformation.

FIG. 29 shows an example of the selection set stored in the selectionset storing means 3204. The ID 3301 of the selection item is stored inaccordance with the order 3402 so as to correspond to a selection setnumber 3401 uniquely added to distinguish one selection set from otherselection sets. In the example shown in FIG. 29, the selection itemsexemplified in FIG. 28 are combined with each other. Further, a maker3403 who made the selection set and a comment 3404 added to theselection set are stored in combination. In this example, a name of themaker 3403 is stored as character string data, but this may be stored insuch a manner that: a managing number is added to the name of the makerso as to be stored, and the selection set storing means 3104 stores themanaging number.

FIG. 30 shows an example of the evaluation rule, used to evaluate theselection set, which is stored in the evaluation rule storing means3205. In FIG. 30, 3501 is an evaluation rule number uniquely allocatedin sequence to the evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storingmeans 3205, and 3502 is an evaluation rule type which indicates a typeof the evaluation rule, in other words, indicates an evaluation focusspecifying a certain point of the selection set upon evaluation, and3503 is an evaluation pattern indicative of a concrete content of theevaluation rule, and 3504 is a grade, set for each evaluation value,that is used to calculate the evaluation result of the selection set.Thus, one evaluation rule is constituted of the evaluation rule number3501, the evaluation rule type 3502, the evaluation pattern 3503, andthe grade 3504, that are correspondingly combined with each other.

Note that, in FIG. 30, the respective evaluation rules are categorizedin accordance with the evaluation rule type 3502, but the evaluationrule type 3502 may be omitted by writing a type of the evaluation rulein the evaluation pattern 3503.

The selection set evaluating means 3207 judges whether or not theevaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205corresponds to the selection set that is targeted. When the evaluationrule corresponds to the selection set, the selection set evaluatingmeans 3207 evaluates the selection set in accordance with a calculationresult calculated by using the grade 3504, for example, by adding thegrades 3504 to each other.

The following description concretely exemplifies the evaluation ruleshown in FIG. 30. An evaluation rule 3505 whose evaluation rule number3501 is 1 is an evaluation rule for making an evaluation in terms of aspecific order of the selection items included in the selection set. Theevaluation rule 3505 shows that: when the selection item whose ID 3301is 7 and the selection item whose ID 3301 is 8 are sequentiallyselected, the grade 3504 is 10.

An evaluation rule 3506, another example, whose evaluation rule number3501 is 3 shows that: when the selection item whose ID 3301 is 1, theselection item whose ID 3301 is 4, and the selection item whose ID 3301is 3 are sequentially selected, the grade 3504 is 7. As exemplified,successive selection items can take arbitrary numbers.

Further, it is not necessary that the order is in sequence, but theevaluation pattern 3503 may be such that: arbitrary selection items areincluded therebetween.

An evaluation rule 3507, still another example, whose evaluation rulenumber 3501 is 4 is an evaluation rule for making an evaluation in termsof a specific combination of the selection items included in theselection set. This evaluation rule shows that: when the selection itemwhose artist name 3303 is “Masahiro Hondo” and the selection item whoseartist name 3303 is “Toshihiro Kawahara” are included in the selectionset, the grade 3504 is 5.

Note that, in the evaluation rule for evaluating the combination, when aplurality of selection items which can be combined with each other existin the selection set, it is possible to make such an interpretation thatall the combinations of the respective selection items are to beevaluated, so that grade may be counted by adding grades of all thecombinations, or it is possible to make such an interpretation that thecombination is a single combination, so that the grade may be countedwith respect to any one of the combinations.

For example, as to the evaluation rule 3507 whose evaluation rule number3501 is 4, the target selection set includes two selection items whoseartist name 3303 is “Masahiro Hondo” and two selection items whoseartist name 3303 is “Toshihiro Kawahara”. When this is interpreted asfour combinations, the grade is 20, and when this is interpreted as asingle combination, the grade is 5.

In this manner, as the number of the target selection items included inthe selection set is larger, the grade is further increased, based onthe former interpretation, so that as more songs are covered, the themeis more emphasized, which is suitable for making an evaluation takingeach arrangement into consideration. Further, even though there are manycovered selection items included in the selection set, the grade doesnot change, based on the latter interpretation. Thus, in case of apersonal computer, even when a plurality of the same parts are included,it is possible to give the same evaluation to them when there is nochange in a function, so that this is suitable for making an evaluationby taking all the selection sets into consideration. Whichinterpretation is to be employed may be set for each evaluation rule, ormay be set by means of the selection set evaluating means 3207.

Further, other evaluation rules 3507, 3508, and 3509, that have valuesof 7, 8, and 9 respectively in terms of the evaluation rule numbers, areevaluation rules for comparing the selection items, included in theselection set, in terms of the attribute so as to evaluate the selectionset. The evaluation rule 3508 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 7shows that: when n number of the selection items whose song name 3302begins with a word “Ai (love)”, the grade is n. Further, anotherevaluation rule 3508 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 8 shows that:when n number of the selection items whose category 3304 is “Japaneseblues (Enka)”, the grade is n. Further, the evaluation rule 3509 whoseevaluation rule number 3501 is 9 shows that: when a ratio of (a)selection items whose category 3304 is “pops” and (b) selection itemswhose category 3304 is “Western music” that are included in theselection set is 2:1, the grade is 5. It is possible to evaluate balanceof a combination of the selection items included in the selection set inaccordance with the evaluation rule for evaluating the ratio.

The evaluation rule described above is stored in the evaluation rulestoring means 3205, but the evaluation rule setting means 3206 adds ordeletes the evaluation rule as rectification so as to reset theevaluation rule during a process in which the selection set evaluationdevice of the present invention is operated, so that it is possible tomake the evaluation rule converge to a generally appropriate evaluationrule.

It is not necessary that the selection set evaluating means 3207 usesall the evaluation rules stored in the evaluation rule storing means3205 upon evaluating the selection set. For example, when only theevaluation rules based on a specific theme are used, it is possible toobtain an evaluation from a specific view point, for example, theevaluation rule can be changed according to the intended use of apersonal computer which is to be built.

Referring to FIG. 28 to FIG. 30, the following description will give anexample where the selection set evaluating means 3207 evaluates theselection set shown in FIG. 29 in accordance with the evaluation rulesthat have values of 1 to 9 in terms of the evaluation rule numbers 3501shown in FIG. 30. In FIG. 29, selection items having values of 2 and 3in terms of the order 3402 are sequentially selected with them havingvalues of 7 and 8 in terms of the ID 3301, so that the evaluation rule3505 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 1 is applied. Selection itemshaving values of 1 and 2 in terms of the order 3402 correspond to acombination of (a) a selection item whose artist name 3303 is “MasahiroHondo” and (b) a selection item whose artist name 3303 is “ToshihiroKawahara”, so that the evaluation rule 3507 whose evaluation rule number3501 is 4 is applied. Selection items having values of 1 and 3 in termsof the order 3402 correspond to a combination of (a) a selection itemwhose artist name 3303 is “Masahiro Hondo” and (b) a selection itemwhose artist name 3303 is “Toshihiro Kawahara”, so that the evaluationrule 3507 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 4 is applied. Selectionitems having values of 2 and 4 in terms of the order 3402 are such thatthe song name 3302 begins with a word “Ai (love)”, so that theevaluation rule 3508 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 7 is applied.Selection items having values of 4 and 5 in terms of the order 3402 aresuch that the category 3304 is “Japanese Blues (Enka)”, so that theevaluation rule 3509 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 8 is applied.As a result, the grade of the selection set is as follows:10+5+5+2+2=24.

FIG. 31 shows an example of the evaluation result stored in theevaluation result storing means 3210. One evaluation result or aplurality of evaluation results 3601 are stored so as to correspond tothe selection set number 3401 shown in FIG. 29. In the example of FIG.31, the evaluation result 3601 includes: an evaluation number 3602uniquely added to distinguish one evaluation result 3601 from otherevaluation results 3601; an evaluator 3603 which is a name of the userinputting the evaluation result 3601; a comment 3604 added to theevaluation result 3601; a grade 3605 described later; and a content ofthe adequacy 3606 of the evaluation result 3601 that is set by theevaluation result adequacy setting means 3215.

In this example, a name of the maker 3603 is stored as character stringdata, but when data such as a number for managing a name of theevaluator is additionally prepared as described above, the managing datamay be stored.

The evaluation result storing means 3210 stores the evaluation resultmade by the selection set evaluating means 3207 and the evaluationresult, made by the evaluating user, that has been inputted by theevaluation inputting means 3209. Like a value “(system)” of theevaluator 3603 in the evaluation result 3607 shown in FIG. 31, specialdata such as a predefined mark which indicates that the evaluationresult is made by the selection set evaluating means 3207 is included inthe evaluation result, so that the evaluation result made by theselection set evaluating means 3207 is distinguished from the evaluationresult inputted by the evaluating user with the evaluation inputtingmeans 3209.

The grade 3605 is a value indicative of points, derived by the selectionset evaluating means 3207, in terms of the evaluation result made by theselection set evaluating means 3207, and is an arbitrary value, inputtedby the evaluating user in accordance with his/her unique evaluationgiven to the selection set, in terms of the evaluation result inputtedby the evaluating user with the evaluation inputting means 3209. In thisexample, the grade 3605 inputted by the evaluating user ranges from 0 to100, but the range of the grade is not limited to this. Further, therange of the grade of the evaluation result made by the selection setevaluating means 3207 is not limited.

The adequacy 3606 is a value for indicating the adequacy of theevaluation result 3601. As to the adequacy 3606, a value in a initialstate is 1.0, and the value is updated in accordance with a content thatthe user using the evaluation result inputted by means of the evaluationresult adequacy setting means 3215. The using method and the updatingmethod of the adequacy 3606 are more concretely exemplified later.

The following description will discuss an example where the totalevaluation deriving means 3211 derives the total evaluation resultcorresponding to the evaluation result 3601 shown in FIG. 31.

As described above, the grade of the evaluation result concerning acertain selection set that has been made by the selection set evaluatingmeans 3207 is calculated by adding the grades 3504 (see FIG. 30) of theevaluation rule applied to the selection set, so that it is impossibleto specify a range of a value of the grades. While, a range of a valueof the grade inputted by the evaluating user is set in advance, so thatit is inappropriate that these grades are compared with each other inthe same manner, and there is a possibility that the ordinary user isconfused.

Then, the total evaluation result is derived from a plurality ofevaluation results concerning a certain selection set, so that it ispossible to obtain the following advantage: even when a large quantityof evaluations are made with respect to the selection set, the ordinaryuser can appropriately grasp how the selection set is entirelyevaluated, without referring to individual evaluation results, byreferring the total evaluation result.

As an example of the deriving method, it is preferable to use thefollowing method: an average value of the evaluation results made by theevaluating user and the grade which is the evaluation result derived bythe selection set evaluating means 3207 are added to each other so as toobtain the grade of the total evaluation result.

Note that, when the grade 3504 for each evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means 3205 is set so that a value of the gradewhich is the evaluation result derived by the selection set evaluatingmeans 3207 is relatively lower than a maximum value of the grade whichis the evaluation result made by the evaluating user, it is possible toobtain such a total evaluation result that: the evaluation result madeby the evaluating user is mainly used and the evaluation result derivedby the selection set evaluating means 3207 is subsidiarily used.

Further, a weighted average of (a) an average of the grade which is anevaluation result made by the evaluating user and (b) a grade which isan evaluation result derived by the selection set evaluating means 3207may be regarded as the total evaluation result. In this case, the weightmay be a predetermined value, but when the weight is made to changeaccording to the number of evaluation results made by the evaluatinguser, the evaluation is performed as follows: the evaluation resultsmade by the selection set evaluating means 3207 are emphasized whenthere are few evaluation results made by the evaluating user, and theevaluation results made by the evaluating user are emphasized when thereare few evaluation results made by the selection set evaluating means3207, so that it is possible to derive the total evaluation result insuch a manner that the selection set evaluating means 3207 subsidiarilyderives the total evaluation result when there are few evaluationresults made by the evaluating user.

For example, in FIG. 31, as to the selection set whose selection setnumber 3401 is 1, the evaluation result 3607 whose evaluation number3602 is 1 is an evaluation result made by the selection set evaluatingmeans 3207, and its grade 3605 is 24. Further, each of (a) an evaluationresult 3608 whose evaluation number 3602 is 2, (b) an evaluation result3609 whose evaluation number 3602 is 3, and (c) an evaluation result3610 whose evaluation number 3602 is 4, is the evaluation result made bythe evaluating user, and grades thereof are respectively 92, 40, and 80.Thus, the grade which is the total evaluation result obtained inaccordance with the foregoing manner is as follows:(92+40+80)/3+24=94.67.

Further, when the total evaluation result is derived, it is possible touse a value obtained by multiplying the grades of the respectiveevaluation results 3605 by a value of the adequacy 3606. In this manner,the total evaluation result is derived by using the adequacy, so that itis possible to obtain such a total evaluation result that: theevaluation result whose adequacy is set to high is emphasized.

For example, the total evaluation result of the selection set, shown inFIG. 31, whose selection set number 3401 is 1 is as follows: theadequacy of the evaluation result 3607 whose evaluation number 3602 is 1is 1.0, and the adequacy of the evaluation result 3608 whose evaluationnumber 3602 is 2 is 1.0, and the adequacy of the evaluation result 3609whose evaluation number 3602 is 3 is 0.7, and the adequacy of theevaluation result 3610 whose evaluation number 3602 is 4 is 1.2. Thus,the total evaluation result is (92×1.0+40×0.7+80×1.2)/3+24×1.0=96.

Another example of how the total evaluation result is derived is asfollows: after calculating a normalized grade in accordance with a gradewhich is the evaluation result derived by the selection set evaluatingmeans 3207 so that a range of the grade, i.e. the evaluation result,derived by the selection set evaluating means 3207 corresponds to arange of a grade, i.e. the evaluation result, inputted by the evaluatinguser, the normalized grade is used as the evaluation result derived bythe selection set evaluating means 3207, and a grade which is the totalevaluation result is obtained by averaging grades each of which is anevaluation result concerning a certain selection set. The range of thegrade which is the evaluation result derived by the selection setevaluating means 3207 corresponds to the range of the grade which is theevaluation result inputted by the evaluating user, so that it ispossible to compare the grade which is the evaluation result made by theselection set evaluating means 3207 with the grade which is theevaluation result made by the evaluating user under the same condition.

For example, it is assumed that: a minimum value of the range of thegrade which is the evaluation result inputted by the evaluating user isUmin and a maximum value thereof is Umax, and a minimum value of thegrade which is the evaluation result, derived by the selection setevaluating means 3207, that is one of the evaluation results stored inthe evaluation result storing means 3210, is Rmin and a maximum valuethereof is Rmax. At this time, a certain selection set is such that: avalue P′, calculated as P′=(P−Rmin)×(Umax−Umin)/(Rmax−Rmin) with respectto the grade P which is the evaluation result derived by the selectionset evaluating means 3207, linearly ranges from Umin as the minimumvalue to Umax as the maximum value.

Concretely, when it is assumed that the minimum value of the grade whichis the evaluation result inputted by the evaluating user is 0 and themaximum value thereof is 100, and the minimum value of the grade whichis the evaluation value derived by the selection set evaluating means3207 is 5 and the maximum value thereof is 60, a grade of the evaluationresult 3607 is 24, so that the normalized grade is(24−5)×(100−0)/(60−5)=34.55. Thus, the grade of the evaluation resultconcerning the selection set whose selection set number 3401 is 1 is asdescribed above, so that the grade of the total evaluation resultconcerning the selection set whose selection set number 3401 is 1 is(34.55+92+40+80)/4=61.64.

Further, as in the foregoing manner, a value obtained by multiplying thegrade of the evaluation results by a value of the adequacy 3606 may beused so as to derive the total evaluation result. In this case, thegrade of the evaluation result concerning the selection set whoseselection set number 3401 is 1 and the value of the adequacy thereof areas described above, so that the grade which is the total evaluationresult concerning the selection set whose selection set number 3401 is 1is (34.55×1.0+92×1.0+40×0.7+80×1.2)/4=62.64.

Further, the total evaluation result may be derived as follows:distributions of a grade 3605 is calculated in accordance with astatistical technique, and after excluding a grade 3605 having anidiosyncratic value that should be rejected, the total evaluation resultis derived in the foregoing manner. Alternatively, an evaluation resultin which the adequacy is not more than a predetermined value, that is,an evaluation result in which the adequacy is evaluated low may beexcluded. By excluding inappropriate evaluation results in this manner,it is possible to derive a total evaluation result which canappropriately represents entire evaluations concerning the selectionset.

Next, FIG. 32 shows an example of a partial evaluation result which isan evaluation result concerning a part of the selection set. The partialevaluation result is the same as the evaluation result in that theevaluating user inputs it by means of the evaluation inputting means3209, but is different from the evaluation result in that: one selectionitem or a plurality of selection items, specified by the evaluatinguser, out of the selection items included in the selection set that arestored in the evaluation result storing means 3210, are evaluated. Thepartial evaluation result is utilized when the evaluation ruleextracting means 3214 extracts a new evaluation rule from the evaluationrules inputted by the evaluating user as described later.

Corresponding to the selection set number 3401 shown in FIG. 29, one ora plurality of partial evaluation results 3701 are stored. In an exampleshown in FIG. 29, the partial evaluation result 3701 includes: a partialevaluation number 3702 which is a number uniquely added to distinguishone partial evaluation result from other partial evaluation results; anevaluator 3703 which is a name such as a real name and a nickname of theevaluating user who inputs the partial evaluation result; an evaluationtarget ID 3704 having IDs 3301 that are added to one or a plurality ofselection items evaluated in terms of the partial evaluation result; anevaluation rule type 3705 which indicates a type of a combination of theevaluation target IDs 3704 so that the evaluation rule type 3705corresponds to the evaluation rule type 3502 which indicates a type ofthe evaluation rule shown in FIG. 30; a grade 3706 of the partialevaluation result; and adequacy 3707 concerning the partial evaluationresult set by the evaluation result adequacy setting means 3215.

In this example, contents of the evaluator 3703 and the evaluation rule3705 are stored as character string data, but when a name of theevaluator and data managing the evaluation rule type are additionallyprepared as described above, managing numbers may be correspondinglystored. Further, like the grade 3706 in FIG. 32, a grade having a minusvalue may be set as the evaluation result.

The following description will discuss an example where the evaluationrule extracting means 3214 extracts the evaluation rule from the partialevaluation result 3701 referring to FIG. 28, FIG. 30, and FIG. 32. Thepartial evaluation result 3701, shown in FIG. 32, whose partialevaluation number is 1, is such that: the evaluation target IDs 3704 are4 and 6, and the evaluation rule type 3705 is “combination”, and thegrade 3706 is 10. In accordance with the partial evaluation result 3701,the evaluation rule extracting means 3214 generates such an evaluationrule that: the evaluation rule type 3502 is “combination”, and theevaluation pattern 3503 is “ID=[4,6]”, and the grade 3504 is 10. Thegenerated evaluation rule is registered to the evaluation rule storingmeans 3205 via the evaluation rule setting means 3206 as a newevaluation rule.

In this example, a content of the evaluation target ID 3704 is writtenon the evaluation pattern 3503 as it is, and there is generated anevaluation rule on which the combination is written, but it is possibleto perform the following process: an artist name 3303 “Sayoko Hikawa” ofa selection item whose ID 3301 is 4 and an artist name “Hijiri Saekawa”of a selection item whose ID 3301 is 6 are respectively referred to, sothat the evaluation rule extracting means 3214 generates an evaluationrule whose evaluation pattern 3503 is “artist name=(Sayoko Hikawa,Hijiri Saekawa)” so as to cover the combination of artist names. Thisenables extraction of an evaluation rule having an evaluation rule otherthan the evaluation rules explicitly inputted by the evaluating user.

Further, in this case, there is a possibility that an evaluation rulederived from the partial evaluation result 3701 is different from anevaluation rule intended by the evaluating user, so that the grade 3706of the partial evaluation result 3701 may be multiplied at apredetermined scale so as to obtain the grade 3504 of the evaluationrule. When the scale is 0.5 for example, the grade 3504 of the generatedevaluation rule is 10×0.5=5, so that there is extracted an evaluationrule in which the converted grade 3504 is lower than the evaluationintended by the evaluating user.

Likewise, the category 3304 of the selection item whose ID 3301 is 4 andthe category 3304 of the selection item whose ID 3301 is 6 are referredto, as shown in FIG. 32, in accordance with the partial evaluationresult 3701, shown in FIG. 32, whose partial evaluation number 3702, andthe categories 3304 are identical to each other in “Japanese blues(Enka)”, so that the evaluation rule extracting means 3214 may generatean evaluation rule in which: the evaluation rule type 3502 is“attribute”, and the evaluation pattern 3503 is “category=n (Enka)”. Inthis case, the grade 3706 of the partial evaluation result 3701 is 10,so that an equation in which n number of selection items correspondingto the evaluation rule type 3502 are multiplied at scale k, such thatk×n=10, may be used as the grade 3504 of the evaluation rule.

In this example, two selection items whose category 3304 is Enka areincluded in the selection set, so that n=2. 5 points are added to eachselection item, so that an evaluation rule in which the grade 3504 isset to “5n” is extracted.

Further, the evaluation rule in which the grade 3504 is set to “5n” isregarded as an evaluation rule derived from an evaluation rule in which“ID=[4,6] and the grade 3504 is 10, and a grade further multiplied at apredetermined scale may be used as the grade 3504 as described above.When the scale is 0.5 for example, k=2.5 based on k=10×0.5/n, so thatthe grade 3504 of the generated evaluation rule is “2.5n”.

While, there is a case where an evaluation rule having the sameevaluation pattern 3503 as the evaluation rule generated by theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 has already been stored in theevaluation rule storing means 3205. In the foregoing example, theevaluation rule extracted by the evaluation rule extracting means 3214is such that: the evaluation rule type 3502 is “attribute”, and theevaluation pattern 3503 is “category=n (Enka)”, and the grade 3504 is“2.5n”. On the other hand, like the evaluation rule 3509 shown in FIG.30, an evaluation rule, having the same evaluation pattern 3503, inwhich: the evaluation rule type 3502 is “attribute”, and the evaluationpattern 3503 is “category=n (Enka)”, and the grade 3504 is “n”, hasalready been stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205.

In this case, the evaluation rule setting means 3206 may overwrite theevaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205 so asto replace the evaluation rule with an evaluation rule generated by theevaluation rule extracting means 3214, or may rectify the evaluationrule stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205 by referring tothe evaluation rule generated by the evaluation rule extracting means3214. In the latter case, the rectification may be performed so thatgrades of both the evaluation rules are averaged. In the foregoingexample, the grade 3504 of the evaluation rule stored in the evaluationrule storing means 3205 is rectified to “1.75n”. Besides this averaging,the grades of both the evaluation rules may be added to each other.

Further, an evaluation rule may be extracted as follows: the grade 3706of the partial evaluation result 3701 is rectified by utilizing theadequacy 3707 of the partial evaluation result 3701, and the evaluationrule extracting means 3214 uses the rectified grade. In FIG. 32 forexample, the partial evaluation result 3701 whose partial evaluationnumber is 3 is such that: the evaluation target IDs 3704 are 8 and 6,and the evaluation rule type 3705 is “order”, and the grade 3706 is 7,and the adequacy 3707 is 0.8. The rectified grade is 7×0.8=5.6 inaccordance with the partial evaluation result 3701, so that theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 generates an evaluation rule inwhich: the evaluation rule type 3502 is “order”, and the evaluationpattern 3503 is “ID=[8,6]”, and the grade 3504 is 5.6.

Besides this example, it is possible to perform the following setting:the partial evaluation result 3701 whose adequacy 3707 is not more thana certain value is not targeted. Alternately, in a case where aplurality of partial evaluation results 3701 identical to each other inthe evaluation target ID 3704 and the evaluation rule type 3705 arestored in the evaluation result storing means 3210, a partial evaluationresult 3710 having the largest adequacy 3707 may be targeted by theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 upon generating the evaluationrule. The adequacy 3707 is used in the foregoing manner when theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 extracts the evaluation rule, sothat it is possible to extract such an evaluation rule that the partialevaluation result whose adequacy is set to high is emphasized.

The foregoing description illustrates the concrete example where theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 extracts the evaluation rule fromthe partial evaluation result 3701, but the evaluation rule may beextracted from the evaluation result 3601 concerning the entireselection set, instead of using the partial evaluation result 3701, asshown in FIG. 31. For example, it is assumed that the evaluation result3601 concerning a certain selection set is constituted of subsets, andit is assumed that all the subsets of selection items included in theselection set are generated so that the respective subsets indicate therespective partial evaluation results. In accordance with this, it ispossible that a value, obtained by dividing the grade concerning theevaluation result by the number of the generated subsets, is allocatedto each subset as a grade of each evaluation result.

In accordance with the evaluation result constituted of five selectionitems for example, there are generated 30 subsets each of which is suchthat: the subset having one selection item is 5, and the subset havingtwo selection items is (5×4)/(2×1)=10, the subset having three selectionitems is (5×4×3)/(3×2×1)=10, and the subset having four selection itemsis (5×4×3×2)/(4×3×2×1)=5. However, it is general that (a) an empty setwhose element number is 0 and (b) a set equal to an original set areincluded in a subset of a certain set, but these sets are not includedsince they are not so important in this case.

Further, when the grade 3605 of an original evaluation result 3601 is 90with respect to the thirty subsets for example, a grade of 90/30=3 isallocated to each subset. It is possible to obtain a partial evaluationresult in which: the evaluation target ID 3704 is a component of thesubset, and the evaluation rule 3705 is a predetermined type (forexample “combination”), and the grade 3706 is the allocated grade, andthe adequacy 3707 is a predetermined value (for example 1.0), inaccordance with the subset obtained in the foregoing manner, so that itis possible to extract a plurality of evaluation rules from a singleevaluation result as in the example where the evaluation rule isextracted from the partial evaluation result.

As described above, if a large quantity of evaluation results 3601 arecollected even when the same grades are allocated to the respectivesubsets constituting the evaluation result 3601 concerning the entireselection set, there occurs the following condition: when a grade 3605of an evaluation result 3601 including a certain evaluation rule type3502 is high, allocated points, concerning the evaluation rule type3502, that are calculated from the grade 3605, are expected to be high.On the other hand, the allocated points of the evaluation rule type 3502having little influence on the evaluation result 3601 are diffractedinto a high value and a low value, so that the evaluation result 3601 isexpected to be counterbalanced. Thus, the evaluation rule extracted fromthe evaluation result 3601 has more adequacy as more evaluation resultsare collected.

Alternately, a common rule may be extracted from a plurality ofevaluation results 3601 by using a technique known as data mining so asto extract the evaluation rule. For example, it is possible to extract apattern, such as a combination and an order, common to combinations ofselection items included in a selection set in which the grade 3605 ofthe evaluation result 3601 is high. The common pattern extracted in thismanner is regarded as a pattern heightening the evaluation result, andis extracted as an evaluation rule having a high grade. Alternately, aneural network, learned in accordance with a plurality of evaluationresults, that outputs a grade with respect to an inputted selection set,may be generated by using a technique known as a neural network.Further, with respect to the evaluation rule extracted in this manner,the adequacy 3606 of the evaluation result 3601 may be processed in thesame manner as in the adequacy 3707 of the partial evaluation result3701.

The following description discuss a concrete example of the selectionset evaluation device of the present invention referring to FIG. 33 toFIG. 36. The selection set evaluation device described in the examplefunctions also as a product selling device for selling a selection setthat has been made.

FIG. 33 illustrates an example of an initial state of an image by whichthe selecting user selects the selection items so as to make theselection set. In FIG. 33, 3801 is a selection item indicating area forindicating information concerning target selection items to theselecting user, and 3802 is a scroll button for switching to theinformation concerning the selection items displayed in the selectionitem indicating area 3801, and 3803 is a selection set display area fordisplaying a content of the selection set, being made, that is acombination of the selection items selected by the selecting user, 3804is a comment inputting area by which the selecting user inputs a commentfor the selection set, and 3805 is a registration button for storing theselection set displayed in the selection set display area 3803 in aselection set storing means 3204.

Further, in the selection item indicating area 3801, a song name 3806and an artist name 3807 are displayed as the information concerning eachselection item, and in the selection set display area 3803, an order3808 and an song name 3809 corresponding to the selection item aredisplayed.

In an example of this image, the selection item indicating area 3801,the selection item selecting means 3203 are provided in the selectionitem indicating means 3202 as the selection item indicating area 3801and the selection set area 3803.

In order to select the selection item displayed in the selection itemindicating area 3801, the displayed song name 3806 or artist name 3807is pointed by means of a pointing tool such as a mouse so as to clickit. Alternately, a touch panel may be used so as to give instructions bydirectly touching the panel, or a key board may be used so as to giveinstructions by moving a cursor displayed in the selection itemindicating area 3801. Hereinbelow, the operation for selecting adisplayed target is referred to merely as “click”.

The selected selection items are added to the selection set being made,and are displayed in the selection set display area 3803. In order todelete the selection items displayed in the selection set display area3803, the song name 3809 of the selection item in the selection setdisplay area 3803 that is required to be deleted is clicked.

The selecting user repeats an operation for selecting a selection itemdisplayed in the selection item indicating area 3801 so as to add theselection item to the selection set being made, or an operation forselecting a selection item displayed in the selection set display area3803 so as to delete the selection item from the selection set beingmade, so that the selection set that is desired by the user is made. Itis possible to store the selection set, that has been made, in theselection set storing means 3204 by pushing the registration button3805.

In addition to the example shown in FIG. 33, when there is furtherprovided a maker name input area by which the selection user inputshis/her own name, it is possible to input a name of the maker 3403 ofthe selection set exemplified in FIG. 29, so as to be stored in theselection set storing means 3204 in combination. Alternately, a name ofthe selecting user, such as a log-in name, that has been inputted uponusing a terminal or a software using the image for making the selectionset that is shown in FIG. 33, may be stored in the selection set storingmeans 3204 as the maker 3403 in the selection set exemplified in FIG.29.

FIG. 34 illustrates an example of an evaluation result informing imagesuch that: the total evaluation results derived from the evaluationresults, stored in the evaluation result storing means 2107, by thetotal evaluation deriving means 3211 are ranked by the selection setranking means 3212, and the evaluation result informing means 3213informs the evaluation results to the ordinary user. The ordinary usergives an instruction from evaluation result displaying means (not shown)provided in the selection set making device 3260 shown in FIG. 27 viathe communication controlling means 3217 of the selection set makingdevice 3250 to the evaluation result informing means 3213, so that it ispossible to refer to a list of the selection sets ranked in accordancewith the total evaluation result. Thus, the ordinary user can graspwhich selection set is highly evaluated, so that it is possible to makea new selection set by referring to a combination of the selected itemsincluded in a highly-evaluated selection set.

Alternately, in the product selling device including the selection setevaluation device of the present invention or the selection setevaluating system of the present invention, the selection set that isdisplayed can be purchased as it is, so that it is not required toselect the selection items upon purchasing the selection set, and it ispossible to purchase the combination of the selected items included inthe highly-evaluated selection set as a product.

In FIG. 34, 3901 is a ranking display area for displaying a ranking ofthe selection sets, and 3902 is a scroll button for switching theselection sets displayed in the ranking display area 3901. Further, inthe ranking display area 3901, an order 3903 of the ranking, a maker3904 of the selection set, a comment 3905 on the selection set, and agrade 3906 are correspondingly displayed. In the grade 3906 of theselection set, a grade of the total evaluation result derived by thetotal evaluation deriving means 3211 is displayed. A concrete example ofderiving the total evaluation result is as described above.

For example, it is assumed that: the grade of the total evaluationresult derived in the foregoing manner with respect to the selection setexemplified in FIG. 29 is 96, and the selection set ranking means 3212ranks the selection set as a top. Thus, the order 3903 in the rankingdisplay area 3901 corresponds to the top, and “DJ mina” a content of themaker 3403 shown in FIG. 29 is displayed in the maker 3904, and “I madethe album in memory of old days” a content of the comment 3404 shown inFIG. 29 is displayed in the comment 3404, and 96 which is the grade ofthe total evaluation result derived by the total evaluation derivingmeans 3211 is displayed in the grade 3906.

When a specific mark is added to the selection item that has notreceived the evaluation made by the evaluating user so that theselection item is displayed with it included in the ranking, theordinary user can grasp a list concerning the reliability of theevaluation result of each selection set. Further, there may beadditionally prepared a ranking display area for displaying only aselection set that has not received the evaluation made by theevaluating user.

When the selection set displayed in the ranking display area 3901 isclicked, the image is switched to an image for displaying detailinformation of the selection set as shown in FIG. 35. FIG. 35 shows anexample where the evaluation result informing means 3213 displays adetail evaluation content concerning the selection set selected in FIG.34.

In FIG. 35, 4001 is a maker display area for displaying a name of theselecting user who made the selection set, and 4002 is a comment displayarea for displaying a comment the selecting user inputted upon makingthe selection set, and 4003 is a selection set display area fordisplaying selection items included in the selection set, and 4004 is atotal evaluation result display area for displaying a total evaluationresult of the selection set that has been derived by the totalevaluation deriving means 3211, and 4005 is a combination list fordisplaying the detail evaluation result of the selection set that iscalculated by the selection set evaluating means 3207 in accordance withthe evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205,and 4006 is a scroll button for switching the detail evaluation resultdisplayed in the combination list to another detail evaluation result.

Further, 4007 is an evaluator list for displaying the detail evaluationresult of the selection set that is inputted by the evaluating user, and4008 is a scroll button for switching the detail evaluation resultdisplayed in the evaluator list 4007 to another detail evaluationresult, and 4009 is an evaluation agree button which is pushed in casewhere the ordinary user agrees with one of the evaluation resultsdisplayed in the combination list 4005 or the evaluator list 4007, and4010 is an evaluation not-agree button which is pushed in case where theordinary user does not agree with one of the evaluation resultsdisplayed in the combination list 4005 or the evaluator list 4007, and4011 is an evaluation input button for switching to an image by which anew evaluation of the selection set is inputted, and 4050 is a selectionset purchase button for purchasing the selection set. The image forinputting the new evaluation is exemplified in FIG. 36 described later.

Further, in the selection set display area 4003, the selection item'sorder 4012 and the selection item's song name 4013 are correspondinglydisplayed. Further, in the combination list 4005, (a) a target 4014 inwhich selection items of the selection set that have been evaluated interms of an evaluation rule derived from a certain evaluation result aredisplayed in combination of the order 4012, (b) a content 4015 whichindicates a characteristic (focused point) of the selection set that areevaluated so as to correspond to the evaluation rule type 3502 of theevaluation rule, and (c) a grade 4016 are correspondingly displayed.Further, in the evaluator list 4007, (a) an evaluator 4017 which is aname of the evaluating user who inputted each evaluation result, (b) acomment 4018 which is inputted by the evaluating user with respect tothe evaluation result, and (c) the grade 4019 as the evaluation resultare correspondingly displayed.

In the total evaluation result display area 4004, (a) a combinationgrade which is an evaluation result derived by the selection setevaluating means 3207 and (b) a lowest grade and a highest grade of theevaluation result inputted by the evaluating user with the evaluationinputting means 3209, are displayed. Further, a total evaluation derivedby the total evaluation deriving means 3211 from the evaluation resultof the selection set that is stored in the evaluation result storingmeans 3210 is displayed as a total grade. An example of deriving thetotal evaluation result is as described above.

One of the evaluation results displayed in the combination list 4005 orthe evaluator list 4007 is selected by clicking it, and the evaluationagree button 4009 or the evaluation not-agree button 4010 is pushed, sothat the ordinary user can set the adequacy 3606 of the evaluationresult. As illustrated in FIG. 31, the adequacy 3606 is indicated as avalue stored in the evaluation result storing means 3210 in combinationwith the evaluation result.

For example, with respect to the evaluation result newly derived by theselection set evaluating means 3207 or the evaluation result inputted bythe evaluating user, 1.0 is set as a value of an initial state of theadequacy 3606. Every time the ordinary user pushes the evaluation agreebutton 4009 as to the evaluation result, the value of the adequacy 3606is increased by 0.1, and every time the ordinary user pushes theevaluation not-agree button 4010 as to the evaluation result, the valueof the adequacy 3606 is decreased by 0.1. For example, in a case wherethe adequacy 3606 stored in the evaluation result storing means 3207 is1.2, when the evaluation agree button 4009 is pushed one time, the valueof the adequacy 3606 is updated to 1.3.

The value of the adequacy 3606 updated in this manner is multiplied bythe grades of the respective evaluation results as described in theexample where the total evaluation deriving means 3211 derives the totalevaluation result. Thus, it is possible to derive the total evaluationresult so that the evaluation result whose adequacy 3606 is high isemphasized. Alternately, the value of the adequacy 3606 is used upondetermining the grade 3605 of the evaluation rule generated by theevaluation rule extracting means 3214 as described above. Thus, it ispossible to extract the evaluation rule so that the evaluation resultwhose adequacy 3606 is high is emphasized.

Note that, the process of updating the adequacy 3606 is not limited tothe foregoing example. Further, when the lower limit and the upper limitare given to the value of the adequacy 3606 in advance, it is possibleto prevent the value of the adequacy 3606 from being excessivelyreflected to the total evaluation result and the extracted evaluationrule.

In combination with each evaluation result displayed in the combinationlist 4005 or the evaluator list 4007, the value of the adequacy 3606 or3707 of the evaluation result is displayed, so that it is possible togive the ordinary user a clue for judging whether the evaluation resultis reliable or not. In this case, when marks such as asterisks whosequantity corresponds to the value of the adequacy 3606 or 3707 areadded, or a display color of the evaluation result is changed, insteadof indicating the adequacy 3606 in a form of a value, it is possible tointuitively judge the reliability.

Further, as described above, the ordinary user selects the selection setin the evaluation result informing image as described in FIG. 34, andconfirms its content and the evaluation result, made by the evaluatinguser, by means of the image which displays the detail evaluation contentconcerning the selection set described in FIG. 35, and pushes theselection set purchase button 4050, so that the ordinary user canpurchase the selection set. Thus, the ordinary user can purchase theselection set, which has been made by other user and is highly evaluatedby the evaluating user, without making the selection set.

FIG. 36 illustrates an example of an image by which the evaluating userinputs the evaluation with respect to the selection set indicated by theselection set indicating means 3208. Concretely, when the evaluationinput button 4011 is pushed with respect to the selection set whosecontents are displayed in the maker display area 4001, the commentdisplay area 4002, and the selection set display area 4003 that areshown in FIG. 35, the image shown in FIG. 35 is switched to the imageshown in FIG. 36, so that the evaluating user can input the evaluationwith respect to the selection set.

In FIG. 36, 4001 is a maker display area for displaying a name of theselecting user who made the selection set, and 4002 is a comment displayarea for displaying a comment inputted by the selecting user upon makingthe selection set, and 4003 is a selection set display area fordisplaying the selection items included in the selection set, and anorder 4012 of the selection item and a song name 4013 of the selectionitem are displayed in the selection set display area 4003. In thispoint, FIG. 36 is the same as FIG. 35.

In addition, 4101 is an evaluator name input area for inputting a nameof the evaluating user, and 4102 is a grade input area for inputting agrade subjectively determined by the evaluating user as the evaluationresult of the selection set displayed in the selection set display area4003, and 4103 is a comment input area for inputting a comment such as abasis for the evaluation result made by the evaluator, and 4104 is apartial evaluation input area for inputting a partial evaluation resultwhich is an evaluation for a part of the selection set, and 4105 is aregistration button by which the evaluation results inputted to (a) theevaluator name input area 4101, (b) the grade input area 4102, and (c)the comment input area 4103 are registered so as to be stored in theevaluation result storing means 3210.

Further, in the partial evaluation input area 4104, there are provided(a) an evaluation target input area 4106 in which the selection itemsincluded in the selection set are specified and inputted, (b) anevaluation rule type selecting menu 4107 for selecting an evaluationrule type indicative of a type of the evaluation rule shown in FIG. 30,and (c) a grade input area 4108 for inputting a grade of the partialevaluation result.

The example of FIG. 36 shows that the partial evaluation input area 4104includes only three columns in which the partial evaluations areinputted, but the number of the partial evaluations that can be inputtedby the evaluating user is not limited to this. For example, there isadditionally provided a scroll button for switching to fourth or morecolumns so that new partial evaluations are inputted in case fourth ormore columns are required.

Note that, the order 4012 of the selection items displayed in theselection set display area 4003 is inputted to the evaluation targetinput area 4106. When a desired order 4012 is clicked, the number of theclicked order 4012 is added to the evaluation target input area 4106that is receiving the input. This makes it easier to perform the input.

The order 4012 inputted in the evaluation target input area 4106 isconverted into the ID 3301, by referring to (a) data of the selectionset stored in the selection set storing means 3204 as shown in FIG. 29and (b) information concerning the selection items stored in theselection item storing means 3201, when the registration button 4105 ispushed so that the partial evaluation result is stored in the evaluationresult storing means 3210, and the ID 3301 is stored as the evaluationtarget ID 3704 shown in FIG. 32. Further, in order to input theevaluation rule type 4107, the evaluation rule type 4107 which can beselected by a menu such as a pull-down menu is indicated so that theevaluating user selects the evaluation rule 4107. This makes it easierto input the evaluation rule type 4107.

FIG. 37 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set is made in the image, exemplified in FIG. 33, by which theselecting user makes the selection set by selecting the indicatedselection items.

First, the process is entirely initialized (step 2201; hereinbelowreferred to as S2201 for short). In the example shown in FIG. 33, someof the selection items stored in the selection item storing means 3201are displayed in the selection item indicating area 3803, and theselection set display area 3803 and the comment input area 3804 arecleared. Further, the selection set, being made, that is stored in theselection item selecting means 3203 is cleared. Any selection item canbe displayed in the selection item indicating area 3801, but it ispreferable to display a displayable number of the selection items,stored in the selection item storing means 3201, in the selection itemindicating area 3801.

Next, judgment is given on whether the selection item displayed in theselection item indicating area 3801 has been clicked or not (S2202). Ina case where the selection item has been clicked, the process proceedsto S2203, and in a case where the selection item has not been clicked,the process proceeds to S2204.

In the case where the selection item has been clicked in S2202, theselection item is added to the selection set being made (S2203).Thereafter, the process proceeds to S2206.

In the case where the selection item has not been clicked in S2202,judgment is given on whether the selection item, included in theselection set, that is displayed in the selection set display area 3803,has been clicked or not (S2204). In a case where the selection item hasbeen clicked, the process proceeds to S2205, and in a case where theselection item has not been clicked, the process proceeds to S2207.

In the case where the selection item has clicked, the selection item isdeleted from the selection set being made (S2205).

Next, after the processes S2203 and S2205, the display of the selectionset display area 3803 is updated in accordance with a content of theselection set being made (S2206). Thereafter, the process returns toS2202.

In the case where the selection item has not been clicked in S2204,judgment is given on whether the registration button 3805 has beenpushed or not (S2207). In a case where the registration button 3805 hasbeen pushed, the process proceeds to S2208. In the case where theregistration button 3805 has not been pushed, the process returns toS2202.

In the case where the registration button 3805 has been pushed in S2207,judgment is given on whether the selection set being made has beencompleted or not (S2208). That is, when at least one selection item isnot included in the selection set, it is judged that the selection sethas not been completed. In a case where a predetermined number ofselection items are included in the selection set, whether it isregarded as completion or not is a matter of design variation. In thecase where the selection set being made has been completed, the processproceeds to S2209. In the case where the selection set being made hasnot been completed, the process returns to S2202.

In the case where the selection set being made has been completed inS2208, the selection set being made is registered and stored in theselection set storing means 3204 in combination with the commentinputted to the comment input area 3804 (S2209), and the process isfinished.

FIG. 38 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theselection set evaluating means 3207 evaluates the selection set storedin the selection set storing means 3204. This process is started (a)when a specific operation is performed, for example, the user pushes abutton for starting the evaluation, or (b) right after a new selectionset is made and is registered into the selection set storing means 3204,or (c) when a combination of the selection items included in theselection set being made is changed, or (d) on a specific time and date,and the like.

First, the selection set evaluating means 3204 reads a target selectionset stored in the selection set storing means 3204 (S2301). Theselection set is additionally made by the selecting user with theselection items selecting means 3203. The selection set is asexemplified in FIG. 29.

Next, a grade v of the selection set that is stored in the selection setevaluating means 3207 is initialized (S2302).

Next, a content of the selection item included in the selection set isread from the selection item storing means 3201 (S2303). For example,the selection item whose order 3402 shown in FIG. 29 corresponds to theselection item whose ID 3301 shown in FIG. 28 is 2, so that a content ofthe selection item (song name 3302, artist name 3303, category 3304) isread. This process is performed with respect to all the selection itemsincluded in the selection set.

Next, in order to refer to the evaluation rule stored in the evaluationrule storing means 3205, a value of a variable i (stored in theselection set evaluating means 3207) is initialized to 1 (S2304).

Next, the evaluation rule having an i-th evaluation rule number is readfrom the evaluation rule storing means 3205 (S2305). For example, in anexample of the evaluation rule shown in FIG. 30, when the i value is 1,the evaluation rule 3505 whose evaluation rule number 3501 is 1 is read.

Next, whether the evaluation rule read in S2305 is applied to theselection set or not is judged (S2306). A concrete example is asdescribed above. In case where the evaluation rule is applied, theprocess proceeds to S2307, and in case where the evaluation rule is notapplied, the process proceeds to S2308.

Next, the grade is calculated based on the evaluation rule, and is addedto the grade v (S2307). A concrete example is as described above.

Next, the value i is increased by 1 (S2308).

Next, whether the i value is larger than the number of the evaluationrules stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205 or not is judged(S2309). In case where the i value is larger than the number of theevaluation rules, this means that the evaluation based on all theevaluation rules stored in the evaluation rule storing means 3205 isfinished, so that the process is finished. In case where the i value islower than or equal to the number of the evaluation rules, this meansthat the evaluation rule which has not been evaluated exists in theevaluation rule storing means 3205, so that the process returns to S2305so as to continue the process.

Next, FIG. 39 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow inwhich the selection set is made in the image, exemplified in FIG. 36, bywhich the evaluating user inputs an evaluation of the selection setindicated by the selection set indicating means 3208.

First, the process is entirely initialized (S2401). In the example shownin FIG. 36, the selection set that is to be evaluated is referred to inaccordance with the selection set storing means 3204, and the maker 3403is displayed in the maker display area 4001 and the comment 3404 isdisplayed in the comment display area 4002. Further, informationconcerning the selection item included in the selection set is referredto in accordance with the selection item storing means 3201 so as to bedisplayed in the selection set display area 4003. Further, the evaluatorname input area 4101, the grade input area 4102, the comment input area4103, and the evaluation target input area 4106 are cleared.

Hereinbelow, areas for inputting the evaluation results, such as theevaluator name input area 4101, the grade input area 4102, and thecomment input area 4103, are collectively referred to as an evaluationresult input area.

Next, judgment is given on whether the evaluation result has beeninputted to the evaluation result input area or not (S2402). In a casewhere the evaluation result has been inputted, the process proceeds toS2403, and in a case where the evaluation result has not been inputted,the process proceeds to S2405.

In the case where the evaluation result has been inputted in S2402, theinputted evaluation result is stored (S2403). The inputted evaluationresult may be stored in a temporary storage area provided in theevaluation inputting means 3209, or may be stored in the respectiveevaluation result input areas.

After S2403, a display content of the evaluation result input area isupdated so as to correspond to the evaluation result inputted in S2403(S2404). Thereafter, the process returns to S2402.

In the case where the evaluation result has not been inputted in S2402,judgment is given on whether the registration button 4104 has beenpushed or not (S2405). In a case where the registration button 4104 hasbeen pushed, the process proceeds to S2406. In a case where theregistration button 4104 has not been pushed, the process returns toS2402.

In the case where the registration button 4104 is judged to have beenpushed, judgment is given on whether an essential matter of theevaluation result has been inputted or not (S2406). As exemplified inFIG. 36, in a case where there are a plurality of evaluation resultinput areas, it is a matter of design variation which evaluation resultinput area needs to receive the input. In the case where the essentialmatter of the evaluation result has been inputted, the process proceedsto S2407. In the case where the essential matter of the evaluationresult has not been inputted, the process returns to S2402.

In the case where the essential matter of the evaluation result isjudged to have been inputted in S2406, the inputted evaluation result isregistered to the evaluation result storing means 3210 (S2407), and theprocess is finished.

Referring to (a) the evaluation result informing image shown in FIG. 34and (b) the example where the detail evaluation content of the selectionset shown in FIG. 35 is displayed, FIG. 40 illustrates a processingflow, in which the ordinary user confirms the detail evaluation contentof the selection set by checking the ranking of the selection set.

First, the selection set ranking means 3212 sorts the selection setsstored in the selection set storing means 3204 in descending order ofthe total evaluation results derived, by the total evaluation derivingmeans 3211, from the evaluation results, given to the selection sets,that are stored in the evaluation result storing means 3210 (S2501). Agenerally-known sorting algorithm is used, so that detail descriptionthereof is omitted.

Next, the evaluation result informing means 3213 displays the selectionset in accordance with the ranking derived in S2501 (S2502). A concreteexample of the display is as illustrated in FIG. 34.

Next, judgment is given on whether the selection set displayed in S2502has been clicked or not (S2503). In a case where the selection set hasbeen clicked, the process proceeds to S2504. In a case where theselection set has not been clicked, the process returns to S2503.

In the case where the selection set has been clicked in S2503, theevaluation result informing means 3213 displays a detail content of theselection set by referring to the selection set storing means 3204 andthe selection item storing means 3201 (S2504). A concrete example of thedisplay is as exemplified in the maker display area 4001, the commentdisplay area 4002, and the selection set display area 4003 shown in FIG.35.

Next, the evaluation result informing means 3213 displays the detailevaluation result of the selection set that is stored in the evaluationresult storing means 3210 (S2505). A concrete example thereof is asexemplified in the total evaluation result display area 4004, thecombination list 4005, and the evaluator list 4007, that are shown inFIG. 35.

Next, judgment is given on whether the evaluation agree button 4009 orthe evaluation not-agree button 4010, shown in FIG. 35, that is theevaluation result adequacy setting means 3215, has been pushed or not(S2506). In a case where either the button 4009 or the button 4010 hasbeen pushed, the process proceeds to S2507. In a case where neither thebuttons have been pushed, the process proceeds to S2508.

In the case where the evaluation agree button 4009 or the evaluationnot-agree button 4010 has been pushed, the evaluation result adequacysetting means 3215 updates the adequacy of the evaluation result,concerning the selection set stored in the evaluation result storingmeans 3210, in accordance with a type of the pushed button (S2507). Anexample of how the adequacy is updated is as described above. Afterperforming the process of S2507, the process returns to S2506.

In S2506, in the case where neither the evaluation agree button 4009 northe evaluation not-agree button 4010 have been pushed, judgment is givenon whether the evaluation input button 4011 has been pushed or not(S2508). In a case where the evaluation input button 4011 has beenpushed, the process proceeds to S2509. In a case where the evaluationinput button 4011 has not been pushed, the process returns to S2506.

In the case where the evaluation input button 4011 has been pushed inS2507, the display image is switched to the image, shown in FIG. 36, bywhich the evaluation is inputted (S2509), and the process is finished.

The selection set evaluation device described above is realized by aprogram which causes a selection set evaluation process to function. Theprogram is stored in a computer-readable storage medium. In the presentinvention, a general computer is used to perform the foregoing processas the storage medium, so that a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory)provided in or connected to the general computer may be a program media,or may be a program media such that: there is provided a program readingdevice as an external storage device, and a storage medium is insertedinto the program reading device, so that the program is read.

In each case, it may be so arranged that: a microprocessor accesses astored program so as to execute the program, or in each case, it may beso arranged that: a program is read out, and the read program isdown-loaded into a program storage area, such as a RAM (Read OnlyMemory), provided in a general computer, so that the program executesthe process. The program for down-loading is stored in a main device inadvance.

Examples of the program media include: tapes such as a magnetic tape anda cassette tape, discs including a magnetic disc such as a floppy disc/ahard disc, and an optical disc such as CD-ROM/MO/MD/DVD and the like;cards such as an IC card (including a memory card)/an optical card andthe like; and a semiconductor memories such as a maskROM/EPROM/EEPROM/flash ROM and the like.

Further, in the present invention, the program media may be a mediumwhich carries the program fluidly so that it can provide the program viaa communication network and the like. Note that, in case where a programis down-loaded from a communication network in this manner, the programfor down-loading may be stored in the main body in advance, or may beinstalled from another storage medium.

Note that, a content stored in the storage medium is not limited to aprogram, but may be data.

The following description will discuss still another embodiment of thepresent invention referring to FIG. 41 to FIG. 48.

FIG. 41 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment of asale management device of the present invention.

In FIG. 41, 5101 is product information storing means for storinginformation concerning a product (hereinbelow referred to as productinformation for short), and 5102 is product information indicating meansfor selecting product information, indicated to a product set maker,from the product information stored in the product information storingmeans 5101, so as to output the selected product information, and 5103is product set making means for making a product set constituted of aplurality of products or a plurality of selectable items by referring tothe product information indicated by the product set maker with theproduct information indicating means 5102, and 5104 is additionalinformation obtaining means for obtaining additional information(described later) concerning the product set from the product set maker,and 5105 is product set storing means for storing (a) the product setmade by the product set making means 5103, (b) the additionalinformation obtained by the additional information obtaining means 5104,and (c) information related to the product set (hereinbelow referred toas product set related information for short) such as the number oftimes the product set is purchased, with the information correspondingto each product set, and 5106 is ranking means for sorting the productsets stored in the product set storing means 5105, for example, sortingthe number of times purchased, in accordance with a certain standard,and 5107 is product set indicating means for selecting (a) a product setindicated to a purchaser from the product sets stored in the product setstoring means 5105 or (b) a result from a sorting result given by theranking means 5106, so as to output the selected product set or theselected result, and 5108 is product set selling means for selling theproduct set indicated by the product set indicating means 5107 to thepurchaser.

Note that, all the users using the sale management device of the presentinvention or the sale management system of the present invention(described later) can be regarded as the product set maker, and not onlya professional or a mania familiar with a specific product but also anunspecified number of ordinary consumers can be regarded as the productset maker.

The foregoing components may be directly connected to each other, or maybe connected via a communication network using a telephone line, a radiocommunication, the Internet, and the like. Further, it may be soarranged that: a plurality of product set making means 5103 are preparedso that a plurality of product set makers can use them at the same time,or it may be so arranged that: a plurality of product set indicatingmeans 5107 or a plurality of product set selling means 5108 are preparedso that a plurality of purchasers can use them at the same time.

Further, it does not matter whether the storing means 5101 and 5105store information temporarily or continuously, and it is possible toselect the temporary storage or continuous storage as usage, and it doesnot matter whether the storing means are internally provided orexternally provided or detachably provided.

Further, it may be so arranged that: there-is provided a display sectionfor at least displaying information, and the product informationoutputted by the product information indicating means 5102, or theproduct set or the sorted result outputted from the product setindicating means 5107 is displayed in the display section. This enablessuch condition that: the product set maker checks the productinformation displayed in the display section so as to make the productset, and the purchaser checks the product set displayed in the displaysection so as to select a product set to be purchased.

The sale management device arranged in the foregoing manner can berealized as a terminal device, referred to as information kiosk, that isplaced in a convenience store or a shop or a public space, therebycarrying out the present invention.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of one embodiment ofthe sale management system of the present invention. The arrangementshown in FIG. 42 is basically the same as the arrangement shown in FIG.41, but is different from FIG. 41 in that: the system is constituted ofa sale management device 5100 for managing the product set, a productset making device 5120 (first device) by which the product set makermakes the product set, and a product set purchasing device 5140 (seconddevice) by which the purchaser purchases the product set. The respectivemeans 5101, 5102, 5104 to 5108 are the same as in FIG. 41, so thatdescription thereof is omitted.

In the sale management device 5100, 5115 is communication means fortransmitting/receiving data to/from the product set making device 5120or the product set purchasing device 5140. Thus, the product informationindicating means 5102 transmits information concerning a product to theproduct set making device 5120 via the communication means 5115 asrequired by the product set making device 5120. Further, the product setindicating means 5102 transmits (a) the product set stored in theproduct set storing means 5105 and (b) the information concerning theproduct stored in the product information storing means 5101, via thecommunication means 5115, to the product set purchasing device 5140 fromwhich the request for transmission has been received.

Likewise, the additional information obtaining means 5104 receives theadditional information of the product set (described later) from theproduct set making device 5120 via the communication means 5115.

Further, in the product set making device 5120, 5109 is additionalinformation inputting means by which the product set maker inputs theadditional information concerning the product set that has been made,and 5121 is communication means for transmitting/receiving data to/fromthe sale management device 5100, and 5122 is product information storingmeans for storing the product information, and 5123 is product setmaking means by which the product set maker selects the productinformation stored in the product information storing means 5122 so asto make the product set.

Further, in the product set purchasing device 5140, 5141 iscommunication means for transmitting/receiving data to/from the salemanagement device 5100, and 5142 is product set purchasing means bywhich the purchaser inputs information required in purchasing theproduct set indicated by the sale management device 5100.

In the foregoing arrangement, the product information selected by theproduct information indicating means 5102 is transmitted to the productset making device 5120 by the communication means 5115, and is receivedby the communication means 5121, and is stored in the productinformation storing means 5122. Further, the product information storingmeans 5112 may additionally read and store information concerning aproduct distributed by a medium such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM. The productinformation stored in the product information storing means 5122 isindicated to the product set maker by the product set making device5123, and the product set maker selects the indicated productinformation so as to make the product set.

The product set that has been made is transmitted to the sale managementdevice 5100 by the communication means 5121, and is received by thecommunication means 5115, and is stored in the product set storing means5105. Further, the additional information inputted by the additionalinformation inputting means 5109 is transmitted to the sale managementdevice 5100 by the communication means 5121, and is received by thecommunication means 5115, and is obtained by the additional informationobtaining means 5104. In this manner, the communication means 5121functions as product set transmitting means.

Further, (a) the product set selected from the product set storing means5105 by the product set indicating means 5107 or (b) the result sortedby the ranking means 5106 is transmitted to the product set purchasingdevice 5140 by the communication means 5115, and is received by thecommunication means 5141, and is indicated to the purchaser. Further,information, concerning the purchase of the product, that has beeninputted by the product set purchasing means 5142, is transmitted to thesale management device 5100 by the communication means 5141, and isreceived by the communication means 5115, and is processed by theproduct set selling device 5108. In this manner, the communication means5141 functions as product set receiving means and purchase informationtransmitting means.

In FIG. 42, only one product set making device 5120 and only one productset purchasing device 5140 are illustrated, but a plurality of productset making devices 5120 and a plurality of product set purchasingdevices 5140 may be connected to the sale management device 5100 so thata network, using a telephone line, a radio communication, the Internet,and the like, is arranged. By arranging in this manner, it is possibleto make and sell the product sets so that a wide range of users arecovered.

Further, it is not necessary that the product set making device 5120 andthe product set purchasing device 5140 are separately provided, but theymay be combined with each other as a single terminal device. Sucharrangement enables a product set made by another product set maker tobe indicated by the sale management device 5100, so that it is possibleto make a new product set by referring to the product set made by thisproduct set maker. This can be realized also by a program which causes adevice such as a general personal computer to function as the productset making device 5120 and the product set purchasing device 5140.

FIG. 43 shows an example of the product information stored in theproduct information storing means 5101. FIG. 43 shows music data as anexample. In FIG. 43, 5301 is a song ID which is uniquely added to eachmusic data, and 5302 is a song name, and 5303 is an artist name. Thus,one music data is constituted of the song ID 5301, the song name 5302,and the artist name 5303, that are correspondingly combined with eachother.

In addition to these examples, when information concerning the musicsuch as a category (attribute) of the music data and a length of thesong is stored in combination, the information can be used as a clue bythe product set maker and the purchaser to refer to the music data. Wheninformation concerning the purchase such as a sale price is stored incombination, it is possible to diversify a sale form, for example, it ispossible to set a price of one music data which is different from aprice of another music data.

Further, the product information storing means 5101 may store actualdata of the music. Alternately, it may be so arranged that: the actualdata is stored in another storing means, a file name indicative of theactual data is stored so as to correspond to each music data.Alternately, it may be so arranged that: the actual data is stored in aserver connected via a network to the sale management device 5100, andURL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicative of a resource name of theactual data is stored.

Further, the file name may be generated as follows: a suffix indicativeof the music data, for example “.mp3”, is linked to a value indicatingthe song ID 5301 in a form of a character string, so that the file nameis generated from the value of the song ID 5301. For example, when thesong ID 5301 of the music data is 1, a file name “1.mp3” is obtained.This facilitates management of the music data.

More generally speaking, a single product information is constituted of(a) identification information for uniquely specifying the product, (b)content information indicative of a content of the product, (c)attribute information which indicates a attribute of the product, andthe like.

FIG. 44 shows an example of the product set stored in the product setstored in the product set storing means 5105. The song ID 5301 added tothe music data included in the product set is stored in accordance withthe order 5402 so as to correspond to a product set ID 5401 uniquelyadded to distinguish one product set from other product sets. Theproduct set of this example includes the music data of five songs, butthe number of songs is not limited to this, and the number of songs maybe varied for each product set.

Alternately, there are stored the following additional information; amaker name 5403 of a maker who made the product set: a title 5404, givento the product set, which briefly indicates a characteristic, a theme,and the like thereof, so as to give the purchaser a clue for selectingthe product set: an image file name 5405 such as a jacket image of analbum, given to the product set, that expresses the image of the productset.

In this example, a name of the maker 5403 is stored in a form of acharacter string, but may additionally include data such as a managementnumber corresponding to the name so that the data is stored. Byarranging in this manner, information concerning the maker can be sharedeven when a single maker is making a plurality of product sets, so thatit is not necessary to update the information of the product set everytime the information of the maker is updated.

Further, the number of the image file name 5405 is not limited to one,but may be varied. Alternately, the image file name (326.jpg in FIG. 44)may be generated from the product set ID 5401 (number326 in FIG. 44) inthe same manner as in the example where the file name is generated fromthe song ID 5301.

In the foregoing description, it is assumed that the image data isadditionally stored, but the image data itself may be stored in theproduct set storing means 5105 in combination. Besides the additionalinformation, information, for example, a voice file name indicative ofvoice data such as a speech comment of the maker, a sale price of theproduct set, and the like, may be stored. Further, in a case where theproduct set is an intangible product such as a song, it is preferable touse an image expressing its image, but in a case of a tangible productset, it is more preferable to use photographic data obtained by taking ashot of its appearance.

The following description will discuss a concrete example of the salemanagement system of the present embodiment referring to FIG. 45 andFIG. 46.

FIG. 45 shows an example of an image, displayed in the product setmaking device 5120, by which the product set maker makes the productset. A display section for displaying such image may be provided as apart of the product set making means 5103 or 5123. Alternately, in acase where the product set making device 5120 is combined with the salemanagement device 5100 and the product set purchasing device 5140 as asingle device, it may be so arranged that: a common display section andcommon display controlling means are provided, and the displaycontrolling means obtains necessary information from the product setmaking means 5103 or 5123, the product set indicating means 5102, theproduct set selling means 5108, and the product set purchasing means5142, so as to control the display section to display the information.

In FIG. 45, 5501 is a product information indicating area for indicatingproduct information outputted by the product information indicatingmeans 5102 to a product set maker, and 5502 is a scroll button forswitching the product information displayed in the product informationindicating area 5501 to another product information, and 5503 is aproduct set making area for displaying a content of the product set,being made, that is a combination of products selected by the productset maker, and 5504 is a maker name input area for inputting a name ofthe product set maker, and 5505 is a title input area for inputting atitle of the product set being made, and 5506 is a jacket making buttonfor making a jacket image which is additional information of the productset being made, and 5507 is a registration button for transmitting theproduct set being made to the product management device 5100 so as tostore the product set in the product set storing means 5105.

Further, in the product information indicating area 5501, a song name5508 and an artist name 5509 are displayed as the product information,and in the product set making area 5503, a song order 5510 and a songname 5511 that are included in the product set are displayed.

In order to select a product displayed in the product informationindicating area 5501, the displayed song name 5508 or the displayedartist name 5509 is pointed by using a pointing tool such as a mouse, soas to click it. Alternately, a touch panel may be used so as to giveinstructions by directly touching the panel, or a key board may be usedso as to give instructions by moving a cursor displayed in the productinformation indicating area 5501. Hereinbelow, the operation forselecting a displayed target is referred to merely as “click”.

The selected product is added to a product set being made, and isdisplayed in the product set making area 5503. In order to delete theproduct displayed in the product set making area 5503 from the productset being made, the order 5510 or the song name 5511 of the productrequired to be deleted is clicked in the product set making area 5503.

In a case where the jacket making button 5506 is pushed, the image isswitched to an image for making the jacket image. The image for makingthe jacket image is described later.

The product set maker repeats an operation in which the productinformation displayed in the product information indicating area 5501 isselected so as to add the product information to the product set beingmade, or repeats an operation in which the product information displayedin the product set making area 5503 is selected so as to delete theproduct information from the product set being made, so that a desiredproduct set is made.

The product set that has been made is transmitted to the sale managementdevice 5100 by pushing the registration button 5507, and is stored inthe product set storing means 5105. Further, at this time, the makername inputted in the maker name input area 5504, the title inputted inthe title input area 5505, and the jacket image data made in the imagefor making the jacket image (described later) are transmitted to thesale management device 5100 as the additional information, and areobtained by the additional information obtaining means 5104, so as to bestored in the product set storing means 5105 in combination with theproduct set.

FIG. 46 shows an example of the image for making the jacket that isswitched when the jacket making button 5506 is pushed. Here, the productset maker selects a desired combination of an image, characters, and alayout, from images, characters, and layouts, that have been prepared inadvance, so as to make the jacket image.

In FIG. 46, 5551 is an image indicating area for displaying arecommended image prepared in advance so as to indicate the recommendedimage to the product set maker, and 5552 is a scroll button forswitching the image displayed in the image indicating area 5551 toanother image, and 5553 is a string input area by which the product setmaker inputs a string, and 5554 is a string layout indicating area fordisplaying a recommended layout prepared in advance so that thecharacter string inputted to the string input area 5553 is disposed inthe image, so as to indicate the recommended layout to the product setmaker, and 5555 is a scroll button for switching the recommended layoutdisplayed in the string layout input area 5554 to another recommendedlayout, and 5556 is a preview display area for displaying a preview ofthe jacket image being made, and 5557 is a cancel button for stoppingmaking the jacket image so as to return to the product set making imageshown in FIG. 45, and 5558 is an OK button for finishing making thejacket image so as to register the jacket image being made.

The image indicated in the image indicating area 5551 is stored in imagestoring means (not shown). When the image storing means is provided inthe sale management device 5100 so as to transmit the image informationto the product set making device 5120 as required, it is not necessaryto store a large quantity of images in the product set making device5120. Alternately, when the image storing means is provided in theproduct set making device 5120, it is possible to utilize differentimages for the respective product set making devices 5120, so that it ispossible to obtain characteristics of the respective product set makingdevices 5120.

The product set maker clicks the image indicated in the image indicatingarea 5551 and the layout indicated in the character layout indicatingarea 5554, so that the image and the layout can be selected. Theselected image or layout is displayed so that a specific mark such as acolumn is added thereto as shown in FIG. 46, so that the product setmaker is informed that the image or the layout is selected.

An image in which the character string inputted in the character inputarea 5553 is disposed in the selected image in accordance with theselected layout is displayed in the preview display area 5556 as thejacket image being made. In a case where a content of the jacket imagebeing made is changed, for example, the image selected in the imageindicating area 5511 or the layout selected in the character layoutindicating area 5554 is changed, or the character string inputted in thecharacter input area 5553 is changed, a content displayed in the previewdisplay area 5556 is immediately updated. In this manner, the productset maker changes or rectifies the image, the layout, and the characterstring, according to his/her predilection, by trial and error, so thatit is possible to make the jacket image.

When the OK button 5558 is pushed, the jacket image being made isconverted into image data, so as to be stored in the product set makingdevice 5120 for a while. The image data is transmitted in combinationwith the product set being made when the product set is registered andtransmitted to the sale management device 5100, and the image data isobtained by the additional information obtaining means 5104.

The foregoing description shows the example where an image used as thejacket image is selected from images prepared in advance. In addition,it may be so arranged that: there is provided a function for drawing animage like a general graphics editor so that the product set maker drawsa jacket image freely. Alternately, it may be so arranged that: imagedata made by using another graphics editor is read so as to make ajacket image.

After the cancel button 5557 or the OK button 5558, the image isreturned to the product set making image shown in FIG. 45.

FIG. 47 shows an example of (a) product set selling means 5108 providedin the sale management device shown in FIG. 41, or (b) product setpurchasing means 5142 provided in the product set purchasing device 5140shown in FIG. 42, by which the purchaser confirms a content of theproduct set upon purchasing the product set. Note that, a displaysection for displaying such image may be provided as a part of theproduct set selling means 5108 or a part of the product set purchasingmeans 5142. Alternately, in a case where the product set making device5120, the sale management device 5100, and the product set purchasingdevice 5140 are combined with each other as a single device, the commondisplay section and the common display controlling means are provided asdescribed above.

In FIG. 47, 5601 is product set ranking means for displaying the productsets stored in the product set storing means 5105 in an order sorted bythe ranking means 5106 in accordance with a certain standard such as thenumber of times purchased in the last one month, and 5602 is a scrollbutton for switching the ranking of the product sets displayed in theproduct set ranking area 5601 to another ranking of the product sets,and 5603 is a product set content display area for displaying a detailcontent of one product set selected from the product sets displayed inthe product set ranking display area, and 5604 is a purchase button forpurchasing the product set displayed in the product set content displayarea 5603.

When the product set displayed in the product set display area 5601 isclicked, the product set is selected, and a content concerning theselected product set is displayed in the product set content displayarea 5601. Further, the product set ranking display area 5601 displays aranking 5605 of the respective product sets, a title and a maker 5606,the number of songs and a total time 5607, and a sale price 5608. Theproduct set content display area 5603 displays a product set title 5609,a maker 5610, a jacket image 5611, and a list 5612 of songs included inthe product set.

Further, in the ranking 5605 of each product set, vicissitude of theranking that is based on comparison with a ranking of the last week isindicated by using an arrow in combination with the ranking itself. Theinformation concerning the product set gives the purchaser a clue forlooking for a product set which satisfies an object in purchasing theproduct set.

The purchaser checks the ranking of the product sets displayed in theproduct set ranking display area 5601, and clicks a product set, whichis attractive for the purchaser or satisfies the object in purchasingthe product set, so that a detail content of the clicked product set isdisplayed in the product set content display area 5603. The purchaserconfirms the content of the product set. When the product set comes intohis/her favor and the purchaser determines to purchase the product set,he/she pushes the purchase button 5604. When the purchase button 5604 ispushed, the image is switched to an image by which a procedure forpurchasing is performed, so that it is possible to perform the procedurerequired in purchasing the product set. The product set selling means5108 identifies the purchaser and confirms how the payment is to beperformed as to the required product set, and performs a chargingprocess as required.

FIG. 48 is a flow chart in which the product set maker makes the productset by means of the image, exemplified in FIG. 45, in which the productset maker combines products so as to make the product set.

First, the process is entirely initialized (step 3701; hereinbelowreferred to as S3701 for short). In the example shown in FIG. 45, out ofthe product information, selected and outputted by the productinformation indicating means 5101, that is stored in the productinformation storing means 5101, some information selected and outputtedby the product information indicating means 5102 is displayed in theproduct information indicating area 5501, and the product set makingarea 5503, the maker name input area 5504, and the title input area 5505are cleared. Then, the product set, being made, that is temporarilystored in the product set making means 5103 is cleared.

Note that, any product information can be displayed, in an initialstate, in the product information indicating area 5501, but it ispreferable to display a displayable number of the product informationdisplayed in the product information indicating area 5501, from productinformation whose song ID 5301 is the minimum out of the productinformation stored in the product information storing means 5101.

Next, judgment is given on whether the product information displayed inthe product information indicating area 5501 has been clicked or not(S3702). In a case where any product information has been clicked, theprocess proceeds to S3703, and in a case where no product informationhas been clicked, the process proceeds to S3704.

In the case where the product information has been clicked in S3702, theproduct is added to the product set being made (S3703). Thereafter, theprocess proceeds to S3706.

In the case where the product information has not been clicked in S3702,judgment is given on whether the product information, included in theproduct set, that is displayed in the product set making area 5503, hasbeen clicked or not (S3704). In a case where the product set has beenclicked, the process proceeds to S3705, and in a case where the productset has not been clicked, the process proceeds to S3707.

In the case where the product information has been clicked, the productis deleted from the product set being made (S3705).

Next, after the processes S3703 or S3705, the display of the product setmaking area 5503 is updated in accordance with the product set beingmade (S3706). Thereafter, the process returns to S3702.

In the case where the product has not been clicked in S3704, judgment isgiven on whether the jacket making button 5506 has been pushed or not(S3707). In a case where the jacket making button 5506 has been pushed,the process proceeds to S3708. In the case where the jacket makingbutton 5506 has not been pushed, the process returns to S3709.

In the case where the jacket making button 5506 has been pushed inS3707, the image is switched to the image for making the jacket image asshown in FIG. 46 so as to perform a process for making the jacket image(S3708). When the jacket image is registered or making of the jacketimage is stopped so as to finish the process for making the jacketimage, the process returns to S3702.

In the case where the jacket making button has not been pushed in S3707,judgment is given on whether the registration button 5507 has beenpushed or not (S3709). In the case where the registration button 5507has been pushed, the process proceeds to S3710. In the case where theregistration button 5507 has not been pushed, the process returns toS3702.

In the case where the registration button 5507 is pushed in S3709,judgment is given on whether the product set being made is completed ornot (S3710). In this case, when at least one product is not included inthe product set being made, the product set is judged not to have beencompleted. Further, it may be so arranged that: the upper limit or thelower limit of the number of products included in the product set areset in advance, and when the number of products is more or less thanthese limits, the product set is judged not to have been completed.Further, it may be so arranged that: one or some information of theadditional information, such as a name of the product set maker, a titleof the product set, and the jacket image, are regarded as essentialitems, and when the essential items are not inputted, the product set isjudged not to have been completed. In the case where the product setbeing made is completed, the process proceeds to S3711. In the casewhere the product set has not been completed, the process returns toS3702.

In the case where the product set being made is judged to have beencompleted, the product set is registered to the product set storingmeans 5105 (S3711), and the process is finished.

The following description will discuss still another embodiment of thepresent invention referring to FIG. 49 to FIG. 56. The presentembodiment gives an example where: information concerning a user isobtained, and information concerning the product set maker andinformation concerning the purchaser are compared with each other, sothat a product set made by the product set maker having preferenceinformation similar to preference information of the purchaser ispreferentially indicated to the purchaser.

FIG. 49 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of a sale managementsystem in the present embodiment. As in FIG. 42, FIG. 49 illustrates thesale management system as a system including: a sale management device5100; a product set making device 5120; and a product set purchasingdevice 5140.

In FIG. 49, the respective devices and means 5100, 5120, 5140, 5101,5102, 5105 to 5108, 5115, 5121 to 5123, 5141 to 5142 are the same as inFIG. 42, so that description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 49, 5110 is user information obtaining means for obtaining theinformation concerning the user of the present system from (a) theproduct set making device 5120, and (b) the product set purchasingdevice 5140, or (c) other device which can refer to the product set, and5111 is user information storing means for storing the information,concerning the user, that has been obtained by the user informationobtaining means 5110, and 5112 is user information comparing means forcomparing information, concerning a plurality of users, that have beenstored in the user information storing means 5111, so as to calculatecompatibility therebetween, and these means are provided in the salemanagement device 5100.

Further, 5124 is maker information inputting means for inputtinginformation concerning the product set maker, and is provided in theproduct set making device 5120. Further, 5143 is purchaser informationobtaining means for inputting information concerning the purchaser orautomatically obtaining the information, and is provided in the productset storing means 5140. Note that, it is needless to say that theproduct set storing means 5105 may function as the user informationstoring means 5111.

In order that the purchaser information obtaining means 5143automatically obtains the information concerning the purchaser, it ispossible to utilize history of the operation. For example, it ispossible to automatically obtain information such that the purchaserlikes a certain color, in accordance with history of an operation inwhich the purchaser refers to product sets, having the specific color,that are some of the product sets indicated by the product setindicating means 5107.

The information, concerning the product set maker, that has beeninputted by the maker information inputting means 5124, is transmittedto the sale management device 5100 by the communication means 5121, andis received by the communication means 5115, so as to be obtained by theuser information obtaining means 5110. Further, the information,concerning the purchaser, that has been inputted or obtained by thepurchaser information obtaining means 5143, is transmitted to the salemanagement device 5100 by the communication means 5141, and is receivedby the communication means 5115, so as to be obtained by the userinformation obtaining means 5100.

Further, when a certain product set is purchased by means of the productset purchasing device 5140, the product set selling means 5108 retrievesand selects the product set maker, who made the product set, from theinformation, concerning the user, that has been stored in the userinformation storing means 5111, and gives the product set makerbenefits, for example, gives the product set maker a part of the benefitas financial incentive, or gives the product set maker points etc. whichcan be exchanged for a product or service. Thus, the product set sellingmeans 5108 functions as product set maker selecting means.

Information concerning the benefits is stored in the user informationstoring means 5111 in combination with information of a user whoreceives the benefits, and the benefits are given by benefit processingmeans (not shown) as required.

FIG. 50 shows an example of information concerning a product stored inthe product information storing means 5101. The present embodimentexemplifies the information concerning the product by describing optionsof a car.

Recently, in a car sale, various options such as selection of bodycolors, aero parts, accessories, and the like, are prepared, so that thepurchaser can combine the options as he/she likes upon purchasing a car.However, since there are so many variations of options, it is difficultto determine a combination which satisfies the requirement of thepurchaser. A simulation device which displays appearances changed inaccordance with selected options are used, but there are the followingproblems: it is necessary to make preparations for all types of cars,and in a case where there are a large quantity of options, it takes alot of trouble to make various combinations by trial and error.

The present embodiment gives an example where: the purchaser purchases adesired product set by referring to a combination of options that hasbeen made by other product set maker, so that the purchaser does nothave to make the combination of options.

In FIG. 50, 5901 is an option ID which is a number uniquely added toeach option, and 5902 is a type of each option, and 5903 is an optionname, and 5904 is a price. A single information of an option includesthe option ID 5901, the type 5902, the option name 5903, and the price5904, that are correspondingly combined with each other.

In addition, as to each option, (a) a prerequisite option ID indicatedwith an option ID of an option required to be simultaneously selectedand (b) an excluded option ID indicated with an option ID of an optionwhich cannot be simultaneously selected are stored in combination, sothat it is possible to describe a dependency relation between theoptions. Alternately, when prices for a plurality of combinations ofoptions are stored, it is possible to store setting such that acombination is discounted in a case where options corresponding to thecombination are simultaneously selected.

FIG. 51 shows an example of the information, concerning the user, thatis stored in the user information storing means 5111. In FIG. 51,corresponding to each user ID 6001 which is a number uniquely added tothe information concerning the user, there are stored a user name 6002,an age 6003, a gender 6004, single or married 6005, the number of familymembers 6006, and a hobby 6007. The stored information is not limited tothis. Further, the stored information is indicated with a characterstring or a number in this example, but the information may be stored ina form of binary data. Alternately, the information may be stored in anencoded manner, for example, branches are prepared in the hobby 6007 inadvance, and one or some of marks/one or some of numbers, that are addedto the respective branches, are stored.

FIG. 52 shows an example of the product set stored in the product setstoring means 5105 of the present embodiment. As in FIG. 44, an optionID 5901 added to each option included in the product set is stored so asto correspond to the product set ID 5401 which is a number uniquelyadded to distinguish one product set from other product sets.

Note that, in the present embodiment, an order of the options is notimportant. As to the product set in this example, a combination of fiveoptions is stored, but the number of options is not limited to this, andthe number of options may be varied for each product set. Alternately,as additional information, a maker ID 5401, which is the user ID 6001added to the information of the product set maker who made the productset, is stored in combination.

The following description will concretely exemplify the sale managementsystem of the present embodiment referring to FIG. 53 to FIG. 55.

FIG. 53 shows an example of an image by which the product set makermakes the product set.

In FIG. 53, 6101 is a product information indicating area for indicatinginformation of selective options, i.e., information concerning theproduct that has been outputted by the product information indicatingmeans 5102, and 6102 is a scroll button for switching the informationconcerning the product that is displayed in the product informationindicating area 6101 to information concerning another product, and 6103is a selected option display area for displaying a content of acombination of options, that the product set maker selected from theoptions displayed in the product set indicating area 6101, as a contentof the product set being made, and 6104 is a maker ID input area forinputting the user ID 6001 allocated to the user information when theuser information has been additionally inputted by the product set makerwith the maker information inputting means 5124 and has been registeredin the user information storing means 5111, and 6105 is a userregistration button for switching the image to an image for registeringthe user information described later in a case where the product setmaker has not registered the user information yet, and 6106 is aregistration button for transmitting the product set being made to theproduct management device 5100 so as to store the product set to theproduct set storing means 5105.

Further, in the product information indicating area 6101, a type 6107,an option name 6108, and a price 6109 are displayed as informationconcerning each option.

(a) An operation for selecting an option displayed in the productinformation indicating area 6101 so as to add the product set being madeand (b) an operation for deleting an option displayed in the selectionoption display area 6103 from the product set being made are performedby clicking the option which is to be added or deleted in the samemanner as described in FIG. 45.

FIG. 54 illustrates an example of the image for inputting the userinformation. This image appears when the user information is inputted,for example, when the user registration button 6105 in the image formaking the product set shown in FIG. 53 is pushed. The user means notonly the product set maker who makes the product set and the purchaserwho purchases the product set, but also an ordinary user who refers tothe product set.

In FIG. 54, 6201 is a name input area for inputting a name of the user,and 6202 is an age input area for inputting an age of the user, and 6203is a gender input switch for inputting a gender of the user, and 6204 isa single/marriage inputting switch for inputting whether the user ismarried or unmarried, and 6205 is a family member number input area forinputting the number of family members of the user, and 6206 is a hobbyinput check box for inputting hobbies of the user, and 6207 is a cancelbutton for revoking information being inputted so as to cancel the inputof the user information, and 6208 is a registration button forregistering the inputted information to the user information storingmeans 5111. An example of this input image is based on the example ofthe information concerning the user that is shown in FIG. 51.

A character string or numeric values are inputted to each of the nameinput area 6201, the age input area 6202, and the family member numberinput area 6205, by using a key board and the like. The gender inputswitch 6203, the single/marriage input switch 6204, the hobby inputcheck box 6206 are selected by clicking them. When the user finishessetting the required input information and pushes the registrationbutton 6207, the inputted information is transmitted to the salemanagement device 5100, and is obtained by the user informationobtaining means 5110.

The user information obtaining means 5110 allocates the user ID 6001uniquely to the information concerning the user that has been obtained,and the allocated user ID 6001 and the information concerning the userare stored in the user information storing means 5111. Further, theallocated user ID 6001 is informed to the user who has inputted theinformation concerning the user by means of a display image (not shown)or an electronic mail and the like.

If the user inputs the information concerning the user once as describedabove, the user has only to input the user ID 6001 in a case where theuser information is required, so that the user do not have to input theinformation concerning the user again.

FIG. 55 illustrates an example of an image by which the user confirms acontent of the product set so as to purchase the product set.

In FIG. 55, 6301 is a user ID input area by which the purchaser inputsthe user ID 6001, and 6312 is a user registration button for switchingto the image for registering the user information as described in FIG.54 so as to register the information concerning the product set in acase where the purchaser has not registered the user information, and6302 is a product set ranking display area for displaying the productsets stored in the product set storing means 5105 in an order sorted bythe ranking means 5106 in accordance with a certain standard such ascompatibility derived by comparing (a) the information, concerning theproduct set maker who made the product sets, that has been stored in theuser information storing means 5111 and (b) information of the purchaserhaving the user ID inputted as the user ID 6301, and 6303 is a scrollbutton for switching the product set displayed in the product setdisplay area 6302 to another product set so as to display the switchedproduct set, and 6304 is a product set content display area fordisplaying a detail content of one product set selected from the productsets displayed in the product set display area 6302, and 6305 is acancel button for canceling the purchase of the product set, and 6306 isa purchase button for purchasing the product set displayed in theproduct set content display area 6304.

Further, in the product set display area 6302, the product set maker6307, the price 6307, and the compatibility 6309 derived in theforegoing manner, are displayed.

When the product set displayed in the product set display area 6302 isclicked, a content of the clicked product set is displayed in theproduct set content display area 6304. Here, in the product set contentdisplay area 6304, there are displayed (a) a name 6310 of the productset maker and (b) a list 6311 of options included in the product set.The information is such that: the name of the maker is obtained byretrieving the user ID stored as the maker ID 5410 from the information,concerning the user, that has been stored in the user informationstoring means 5111 as shown in FIG. 51, and the type 5902 and the optionname 5903 are obtained by retrieving the option ID 5901 from theinformation, concerning the product, that has been stored in the productinformation storing means 5101 as shown in FIG. 50, and the name of themaker, the type 5902, and the option ID 5901 are displayed.

In addition, when a key indicative of a content of the product set isdisplayed, for example, an appearance of a car that is obtained bysimulating a combination of options included in the product set isdisplayed, the purchaser can select the desired product set based on thekey.

The purchaser clicks the product set displayed in the product setdisplay area 6302 so as to confirm the content displayed in the productset content display area 6304, and when the product set is desired, thepurchaser pushes the purchase button 6305, so that it is possible toshift to a purchasing process.

An example of how to derive the compatibility between the informationconcerning the product set maker and the information concerning thepurchaser is as follows: the information concerning the user as shown inFIG. 51 is referred to, and items other than the user ID 6001 and theuser name 6002 are compared with each other, and when they coincide witheach other, 1 is added as a grade, and when they do not coincide witheach other, 0 is added as a grade, so as to calculate a total grade.

It is not necessary that the grade is fixed for each item, but a highgrade may be allocated to an important item. Further, as to an itemindicated by numerical values, the values may be classified into somephases for comparison, or the grade may be allocated according todifferences between the values. The former is a process in which, forexample, the age 6003 is classified into age attributes such as teens,twenties, thirties, and the like, and they are compared with each other.The latter is a process in which, for example, the numbers indicated asthe family member number 6006 are compared with each other, and when adifference therebetween is 0, 5 is added as the grade, and when thedifference is 1, 3 is added as the grade, and when the difference is 2,1 is added as the grade, and the difference is not less than 3, 0 isadded as the grade, so that the grade is allocated according to thedifference between the values.

According to the former process, a minute difference between the numericvalues can be ignored, and it is possible to consider a classificationwhich classifies certain ranges such as ages each of which brings aboutthe same sense of value between people of the same age. According to thelatter process, when the numeric values coincide with each other, a highgrade is added, but even when there is a minute difference between thenumeric values, a certain grade is added. In this manner, it is possibleto perform comparison while taking the difference between the numericvalues into consideration. Further, as to items which can be selected inplurality, a grade is added for each coincident item as in the case ofthe hobby 6007.

A value displayed in the compatibility 6309 indicates the compatibilityderived in the foregoing manner. When the value of the compatibilitywith respect to each product set is normalized so that a highest gradeis a value easily understood such as 5100 grade, this makes it easierfor the purchaser to understand the difference in the value. When it isassumed that the highest grade is 11 in the example shown in FIG. 55, itis preferable that the compatibility for all the product sets ismultiplied by 100/11≈9.09.

To facilitate understanding, a value obtained by the foregoingmultiplication may be rounded off.

Further, other than the expression based on numerical values, icons suchas the number of asterisks corresponding to each predefined value areused, so that this makes it easier for the purchaser to intuitivelyunderstand which product set is preferable to purchase.

FIG. 56 is a flow chart for illustrating a processing flow in which theproduct set stored in the product set storing means 5105 is indicated tothe purchaser so that the purchaser selects and purchases the desiredproduct set by using the sale management system of the presentembodiment.

First, judgment is given on whether the user registration button 6312has been pushed or not (S4401). In a case where the user registrationbutton 6312 has been pushed, the process proceeds to S4402, and in acase where the user registration button 6312 has not been pushed, theprocess proceeds to S4403.

In the case where the user registration button 6312 has been pushed inS4401, the purchaser inputs the information concerning himself/herselfso as to register the information as described in FIG. 54 (S4402). Afterregistering the information of the purchaser, the user ID 6001 allocatedto the purchaser is automatically inputted to the user ID input area6301, so that the purchaser does not have to input the user ID 6001again.

Next, the user ID 6001 inputted to the user ID input area 6301 isobtained, and the user information, stored in the user informationstoring means 5111, that includes the user ID 6001, is read out (S4403).In a case where the user ID 6001 is not inputted to the user ID inputarea 6301, the process may be stopped until the user ID 6001 isinputted. Alternately, before the image for purchase that is shown inFIG. 55 is displayed, an access image constituted of the user ID inputarea 6301 and the user registration button 6312 is displayed, and thepurchaser inputs the user ID 6001 to the user ID input area 6301 orpushes the user registration button 6312 so as to input the informationconcerning the user, so that it is possible to read the information ofthe purchaser without fail.

Next, the product set indicating means 5107 refers to a maker of acertain product set stored in the product set storing means 5105, andthe user information comparing means 5112 compares (a) information,concerning the maker of the product set, that is stored in the userinformation storing means 5111, and (b) information concerning thepurchaser, so as to derive the compatibility (S4404). The derivingmethod of the compatibility is as described above.

Next, judgment is given on whether or not the compatibility has beencompletely derived by the process of S4404 with respect to all theproduct sets stored in the product set storing means 5105 (S4405). In acase where the compatibility has been completely derived, the processproceeds to S4406. In a case where the compatibility has not beencompletely derived, the process returns to S4404, so as to repeat thederiving process with respect to the product set whose compatibility hasnot been derived.

Next, the ranking means 5106 sorts the product sets stored in theproduct set storing means 5105 in accordance with the compatibilitycalculated in S4404 (S4406). As algorithm used in sorting the productsets, a general algorithm such as bubble sort and quick sort may beused.

Next, the display image is initialized (S4407). In an example of FIG.55, the maker 6307, the price 6308, and the compatibility 6309 aredisplayed in the product set display area 6302, as informationconcerning the product sets, in order sorted in S4406, that is, in orderin which the product set made by the product set maker whosecompatibility for the purchaser is highly ranked, and a content of theproduct set content display area 6304 is cleared.

Next, judgment is given on whether the product set display area 6302 hasbeen clicked or not (S4408). In a case where the product set displayarea 6302 has been clicked, the process proceeds to S4409. In a casewhere the product set display area 6302 has not been clicked, theprocess proceeds to S4410.

In the case where the product set display area 6302 has been clicked inS4408, a content of the clicked product set is referred to in accordancewith the product set storing means 5105, and is displayed in the productset content display area 6304 (S4409).

Next, judgment is given on whether the cancel button 6305 has beenpushed or not (S4410). In a case where the cancel button 6305 has beenpushed, the purchasing process is stopped. In a case where the cancelbutton 6305 has not been pushed, the process proceeds to S4411.

Next, judgment is given on whether the purchase button 6306 has beenpushed or not (S4411). In a case where the purchase button 6306 has beenpushed, the process proceeds to S4412. In a case where the purchasebutton 6306 has not been pushed, the process returns to S4408.

In the case where the purchase button 6306 has been pushed in S4411,judgment is given on whether the product set has been selected or not(S4412). Here, selecting the product set means that: the product setdisplayed in the product set display area 6302 is clicked, and a contentof the product set is displayed in the product set content display area6304. In a case where the product set has been selected, the processproceeds to S4413. In a case where the product set has not beenselected, the process returns to S4408.

In the case where the product set has been selected in S4412, theprocess shifts to a process for purchasing the selected product set(S4413), and the process is finished.

The sale management device, or the product set making device, or theproduct set purchasing device, that is described above, is realized by aprogram which causes a sale management process, or a product set makingprocess, or a product set purchasing process to function. The program isstored in a computer-readable storage medium. In the present invention,a general computer performs processes as the storage medium. Thus, amemory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) provided in or connected to ageneral computer may be used as a program media. Alternately, it maybeso arranged that: a program media, provided in combination with aprogram reading device, is provided as an external storage device sothat a storage medium is inserted into the program reading device so asto read the program.

In each case, it may be so arranged that the stored program is accessedand carried out by a microprocessor. Alternately, it may be so arrangedthat: in each case, a program is read out, and the read program isdown-loaded to a program storing area such as RAM (Random Access Memory)included in a general computer so that the program is carried out. Theprogram for down-loading is stored in a main body in advance.

Here, the program media is a storage medium detachably provided in amain body, and may be a medium which fixedly holds the program. Examplesof the program media include: tapes such as a magnetic tape and acassette tape, discs including a magnetic disc such as a floppy disc/ahard disc, and an optical disc such as CD-ROM/MO/MD/DVD and the like;cards such as an IC card (including a memory card)/an optical card andthe like; and a semiconductor memories such as a maskROM/EPROM/EEPROM/flash ROM and the like.

Further, in the present invention, the system can be connected to acommunication network including the Internet. Thus, the program mediamay be a medium which carries the program fluidly so that the programcan be down-loaded from the communication network. Note that, in casewhere a program is down-loaded from the communication network in thismanner, the program for down-loading may be stored in the main body inadvance, or may be installed from another storage medium.

Note that, a content stored in the storage medium is not limited to aprogram, but may be data.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art intended tobe included within the scope of the following claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

With the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention, it is possible to evaluate a combination of selection itemsselected by the user, in accordance with a certain standard. Further,the user can obtain a specific standard for making the selection set, sothat the user can make the selection set of selection items so that thecombination is highly evaluated, in accordance with the evaluation.

Further, the selection set evaluation device according to the presentinvention makes it easier for the user to select the selection items,and it is possible to evaluate a combination of the selection itemsselected by the user, in accordance with a specific standard. Further,the user can obtain a specific standard for making the selection set.Thus, the user can make the selection set so that the selection set ishighly evaluated, in accordance with the evaluation.

Further, with the selection set evaluation device according to thepresent invention, it is possible to utilize a wide range of terminaldevices as the terminal, so that it is possible to evaluate theselection sets made by a wide range of users.

Further, with the selection set making device according to the presentinvention, even when information concerning the selection item and anevaluation rule for evaluating the selection set are not stored in theterminal, it is possible to make the selection set and to obtain anevaluation with respect to the selection set. Further, withsimplification of the selection set making device, it is possible tominiaturize the selection set making device and make the selection setmaking device lighter at a lower cost.

Further, with the selection set evaluating system according to thepresent invention, it is possible to build a selection set evaluatingsystem which covers a wide range of users.

Further, with the selection set evaluating method, it is possible that:a selection set constituted of selection items selected by the user isinputted, and a combination of the selection items is evaluated inaccordance with a certain standard. Further, the user can obtain aspecific standard for making the selection set, so that he/she can makethe selection set so that its evaluation is high, in accordance with theevaluation.

Further, the selection set evaluating method of the present inventionmakes it easier for the user to select the selection items, and it ispossible to evaluate the combination of selection items selected by theuser, in accordance with a specific standard. Further, the user canobtain a specific standard for making the selection set, so that he/shecan make the selection set so that its evaluation is high, in accordancewith the evaluation.

Further, a general computer realizes the computer-readable storagemedium according to the present invention by carrying out theaforementioned selection set evaluating method.

Further, with the product selling device according to the presentinvention by which a plurality of products are combined with each otherand sold, the purchaser can obtain a clue for determining a combinationupon purchasing a plurality of products.

Further, with the selection set evaluation device according to thepresent invention, the evaluating user can evaluate the combination ofselection items selected by the selecting user, so that the selectinguser can make a new selection set, and can refer to an evaluation of theselection set upon rectifying the selection set that has been made.

Further, with the selection set evaluation result collecting deviceaccording to the present invention, a wide range of terminal devices canbe used as a first terminal or a second terminal, so that it is possibleto allow a wide range of users to make selection sets, and to collectevaluation results.

Further, with the selection set making device according to the presentinvention, information concerning the selection items are indicated bythe selection set evaluation result collecting device, so that theselection set making device itself is not required to store theinformation concerning the selection items. Thus, it is possible to savea memory capacity of the selection set making device. Further, theselection set made by the selecting user is transmitted to the selectionset evaluation result collecting device by the selection settransmitting means, so that the selection set evaluation resultcollecting device transmits the selection set to the evaluating user,thereby collecting evaluations of the selection set.

Further, with the evaluation inputting device according to the presentinvention, the evaluating users can input evaluations of a selection setmade by other user, and the selection set evaluation result collectingdevice can collect evaluations of a selection set made by the selectinguser.

Further, with the selection set evaluating system according to thepresent invention, it is possible to build a selection set evaluatingsystem which covers a wide range of users.

Further, with the selection set evaluating method according to thepresent invention, the selecting user can refer to the evaluation of theselection set upon making a new selection set and rectifying theselection set that has been made.

Further, with the computer-readable storage medium according to thepresent invention, it is possible to cause a general computer to carryout the selection set evaluating method.

Further, with the product selling device according to the presentinvention by which a plurality of products are combined with each otherand are sold, the purchaser can obtain a clue for determining acombination of a plurality of products upon combining them so as topurchase the combination. For example, when this is applied to a productselling device by which songs are combined with each other as a musicalbum to be purchased, the purchaser can learn whether the combinationis preferable or not, and the purchaser can make a new combination byreferring to a highly-evaluated combination made by other purchaser.

Further, with the communication supporting device according to thepresent invention, it is possible to support exchange of messages andthe like between a plurality of users talking about the evaluations ofthe selection set. For example, when this is applied to a device forsupporting communications concerning music, a plurality of users candiscus which part is preferable and which part is not preferable withrespect to an arrangement of a music album made by combining songs.

Further, with the selection set evaluation device according to thepresent invention, the total evaluation result is derived in accordancewith (a) an evaluation result based on the evaluation rule which is aspecific objective standard and (b) an evaluation given by theevaluating user from a view point different from the evaluation rule, sothat this brings about a more appropriate evaluation result. Thus, theselecting user can refer to the evaluation of the selection set uponmaking a new selection set and rectifying the selection set that hasbeen made.

Further, with the selection set evaluation result collecting deviceaccording to the present invention, it is possible to use a wide rangeof terminal devices as a first terminal or a second terminal, so that itis possible to allow a wide range of users to make selection sets and itis possible to collect the evaluation results.

Further, with the selection set making device according to the presentinvention, even when the evaluation rule for evaluating the selectionset is not stored, it is possible to obtain the evaluation of theselection set, that has been made, by means of the selection setevaluation result collecting device. Further, many evaluation users canaccess the selection set evaluation result collecting device, so that itis possible to obtain huge variety of and a large quantity ofevaluations with respect to the selection set.

Further, with the selection set evaluation inputting device according tothe present invention, it is possible to input an evaluation of aselection set made by other user, so that the selection set evaluationresult collecting device can collect evaluations of a selection set madeby the selecting user.

Further, with the selection set evaluating system according to thepresent invention, it is possible to a selection set evaluating systemwhich covers a wide range of users.

Further, with the selection set evaluating method according to thepresent invention, the total evaluation result is derived in accordancewith (a) an evaluation result based on the evaluation rule which is aspecific objective standard and (b) an evaluation made by the evaluatinguser from a view point different from the evaluation rule, so that thisbrings about a more appropriate evaluation result. Thus, the selectinguser can refer to the evaluation of the selection set upon making a newselection set and rectifying the selection set that has been made.

Further, as to the computer-readable storage medium according to thepresent invention which stores a selection set evaluating program, ageneral computer can be used as the selection set evaluation device, orthe selection set evaluation result collecting device, or the selectionset making device, or the selection set evaluation inputting device, andit is possible to build the selection set evaluating system by using acomputer which operates in accordance with such program.

Further, with the product selling device according to the presentinvention by which a plurality of products are combined and are sold,the purchaser can obtain a clue for determining a combination uponcombining a plurality of products so as to purchase them. For example,when this is applied to a product selling device by which songs arecombined with each other as a music album to be purchased, the purchasercan learn whether the combination is preferable or not, and can purchasea highly-evaluated combination made by a user who makes other selectionset, and can make a new selection set by referring to the selection set.

Further, with the communication supporting device according to thepresent invention by which messages and the like are exchanged between aplurality of users, it is possible to support exchange of the messagesand the like between the plurality of users talking about the evaluationof the selection set. For example, when this is applied to a device forsupporting communications with respect to music, a plurality of userscan discus which part is preferable and which part is not preferablewith respect to an arrangement of a music album made by combining songs.

Further, with the sale management device according to the presentinvention, the purchaser do not have to take any trouble in determiningwhich combination of products or which combination of selection items isto be purchased. Further, the seller do not have to take any trouble inmaking the product set. Moreover, it is possible to indicate a productset including a product, which has never been sold, or a selection item,which has not been selected, to the purchaser. The product set maker canfreely make a special product set based on a specific theme, so that itis possible to indicate a product set, which cannot be made by aconventional method, to the purchaser.

Further, with the sale management device according to the presentinvention, the purchaser do not have to take any trouble in determiningwhich combination of products or which combination of selection items isto be purchased. Further, the seller do not have to take any trouble inmaking a product set. Moreover, it is possible to indicate a product setincluding a product, which has never been sold, or a selection item,which has not been selected, to the purchaser. The product set maker canfreely make a special product set based on a specific theme, so that itis possible to indicate a product set, which cannot be made by aconventional method, to the purchaser.

Further, with the product set making device according to the presentinvention, it is possible to cause the sale management device to collectproduct sets made by a large number of product set makers.

Further, with the product set purchasing device according to the presentinvention, it is not necessary to store information concerning theproduct set in the product set purchasing device, and it is possible tosell product sets to a large number of product set purchasers.

Further, with the sale management system according to the presentinvention, it is possible to build a sale management system which coversa wide range of users.

Further, with the sale management method according to the presentinvention, the purchaser do not have to take any trouble in determiningwhich combination of products or which combination of selection items isto be purchased. Further, the seller do not have to take any trouble inmaking the product set. Moreover, it is possible to indicate a productset including a product, which has never been sold, or a selection item,which has not been selected, to the purchaser. The product set maker canfreely make a special product set based on a specific theme, so that itis possible to indicate a product set, which cannot be made by aconventional method, to the purchaser.

Further, with the computer-readable storage medium according to thepresent invention which stores a sale management program, a generalcomputer can be used as the sale management device, or the product setmaking device, or the product set purchasing device, or the salemanagement system, and it is possible to build the sale managementsystem by using a computer which operates in accordance with suchprogram.

1. A selection set evaluation device, comprising: evaluation rulestoring means for storing at least one user-defined evaluation rule toevaluate a selection set constituted of one selection item or aplurality of selection items selected by a user, each of the evaluationrules comprising a condition and an associated grade value, the gradevalue representing how much the user-selected selection set enablesachievement of a purpose of selection and the condition expresses thepurpose of selection; and selection set evaluating means for evaluatingthe selection set, in accordance with the at least one evaluation rulestored in the evaluation rule storing means, so as to output anevaluation result which is a tally of grade values indicative of howmuch the selection set satisfies the at least one evaluation rule, whenthe selection set is inputted.
 2. The selection set evaluation device asset forth in claim 1, further comprising evaluation rule setting meanshaving an interface for the user to set the at least one evaluationrule, wherein the evaluation rule setting means updates the at least oneevaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means.
 3. Theselection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 2, furthercomprising evaluation result adequacy setting means by which the usersets adequacy with respect to the evaluation result of the selectionset, said evaluation result having been given by the selection setevaluating means, wherein the evaluation rule setting means uses theadequacy that has been set by the evaluation result adequacy storingmeans, so as to update the evaluation result stored in the evaluationrule storing means.
 4. The selection set evaluation device as set fourthin claim 3, wherein: the evaluation result adequacy setting meansincludes an interface for receiving from the user an input of agreementor no-agreement for the evaluation result by the user, the evaluationrule setting means raises the grade value of the evaluation rule appliedto the selection set if the evaluation result is agreed, and drops thegrade value of the evaluation rule applied to the selection set if theevaluation result is not agreed.
 5. The selection set evaluation deviceas set fourth in claim 4, wherein the evaluation rule setting meansdeletes the evaluation rule applied to the selection set if a value ofthe grade value is made less than a lower limit.
 6. The selection setevaluation device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selection setevaluating means evaluates the selection set in real time when a contentof the selection set is updated.
 7. The selection set evaluation deviceas set forth in claim 1, wherein the condition of the at least oneevaluation rule is whether an order of the selection items in theselection set is identical to a specific order or not.
 8. The selectionset evaluation device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the condition ofthe at lest one evaluation rule is whether a number of the selectionitems in the selection set, which satisfies the condition, is identicalto a specific value.
 9. The selection set evaluation device as set forthin claim 1, wherein the condition of the at least one evaluation rule iswhether or not a ratio of (a) some of the selection items that satisfythe condition and (b) others of the selection items that satisfy thecondition is identical to a specific value.
 10. The selection setevaluation device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the condition of theat least one evaluation rule is whether or not a number of combinationsof the selection items combined so as to satisfy the condition isidentical to a specific value.
 11. A selection set evaluation device,comprising: evaluation rule storing means for storing at least oneuser-defined evaluation rule to evaluate a selection set constituted ofone selection item or a plurality of selection items selected by a user,each of the evaluation rules comprising a condition and an associatedgrade value, the grade value representing how much the user-selectedselection set enables achievement of a purpose of selection and thecondition expresses the purpose of selection; and selection setevaluating means for evaluating the selection set, in accordance withthe at least one evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storingmeans, so as to output an evaluation result which is a tally of gradevalues indicative of how much the selection set satisfies the at leastone evaluation rule, when the selection set is inputted, wherein saidselection set is sold as a combination.
 12. The selection set evaluationdevice as set forth in claim 1, wherein the evaluation result is a sumof unit scores each of which is prepared based on a characteristic ofeach selection item or based on a combination of the selection itemincluded in the selection set.
 13. The selection set evaluation deviceas set fourth in claim 1, wherein the selection set evaluation meansoutputs a basis for the evaluation result on a display.
 14. Theselection set evaluation device as set fourth in claim 1, furthercomprising selection set ranking means for displaying a ranking ofplural selection sets made by plural users based on the evaluationresults.
 15. A selection set evaluation device, which evaluates aselection set constituted of one selection item or a plurality ofselection items selected by a user, comprising: selection item storingmeans for storing information concerning the selection item; selectionitem indicating means for indicating the selection item to the user;selection item selecting means by which the user selects the selectionitem, that has been indicated, so as to make the selection set;evaluation rule storing means for storing at least one user-definedevaluation rule to evaluate the selection set that has been made by theuser, the at least one evaluation rule being a condition-value rule forquantifying the amount that the user-selected selection set enablesachievement of a purpose of selection; and selection set evaluatingmeans for evaluating the selection set, in accordance with the at leastone evaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means, so asto output an evaluation result, which is a tally indicative of how muchthe selection set satisfies the at least one evaluation rule.
 16. Theselection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 1 or 15, furthercomprising selection condition parameter setting means for setting aselection condition parameter to adjust a degree at which each selectionitem included in the selection set contributes to an evaluation, whereinthe selection set evaluating means adjusts the evaluation resultaccording to the selection condition parameter that has been set. 17.The selection set evaluation device as set fourth in claim 16, whereinthe evaluation result in a sum of products of unit scores and therespective selection condition parameters, each of the unit scores beingprepared based on a characteristic of each selection item or based on acombination of the selection items included in the selection set. 18.The selection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 15, whereinthe evaluation result is a sum of unit scores each of which is preparedbased on a characteristic of each selection item or based on acombination of the selection items included in the selection set. 19.The selection set evaluation device as set fourth in claim 15, whereinthe selection set evaluation means outputs a basis for the evaluationresult on a display.
 20. The selection set evaluation device as setfourth in claim 15, further comprising selection set ranking means fordisplaying a ranking of plural selection sets made by plural users basedon the evaluation results.
 21. A selection set evaluation device, whichevaluates a selection set constituted of one selection item or aplurality of selection items selected by a user in accordance with atleast one user-defined evaluation rule that has been set in advance,comprising: selection item transmission controlling means forcontrolling transmission of information concerning the selection item toa terminal operated by the user who selects the selection item so as tomake the selection set; selection set reception controlling means forcontrolling reception of the selection set from the terminal; evaluationrule storing means for storing at least one evaluation rule to evaluatethe selection set, the at least one evaluation rule being acondition-value rule for quantifying the amount that the user-selectedselection set enables achievement of a purpose of selection; andselection set evaluating means for evaluating the selection set, inaccordance with the at least one evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means, so as to output an evaluation result,which is a tally indicative of how much the selection set satisfies theat least one evaluation rule.
 22. The selection set evaluation device asset forth in claim 21, wherein the evaluation result is a sum of unitscores each of which is prepared based on a characteristic of eachselection item or based on a combination of the selection items includedin the selection set.
 23. The selection set evaluation device as setfourth in claim 21, wherein the selection set evaluation means outputs abasis for the evaluation result on a display.
 24. The selection setevaluation device as set fourth in claim 21, further comprisingselection set ranking means for displaying a ranking of plural selectionsets made by plural users based on the evaluation results.
 25. Aselection set evaluating method, comprising the steps of: inputting aselection set constituted of one selection item or a plurality ofselection items selected by a user; evaluating the selection set, inaccordance with at least one user-defined evaluation rule to evaluatethe selection set, the at least one evaluation rule being acondition-value rule for quantifying the amount that the user-selectedsection enables achievement of a purpose of selection; and outputting anevaluation result which is a tally indicative of how much the selectionset satisfies the at least one evaluation rule, when the selection setis inputted.
 26. The selection set evaluation method as set forth inclaim 25, wherein the evaluation result is a sum of unit scores each ofwhich is prepared based on a characteristic of each selection item orbased on a combination of the selection items included in the selectionset.
 27. The selection set evaluation method as set fourth in claim 25,wherein outputting an evaluation result outputs a basis for theevaluation result on a display.
 28. The selection set evaluation methodas set fourth in claim 25, further comprising displaying a ranking ofplural selection sets made by plural users based on the evaluationresults.
 29. A selection set evaluating method, by which a combinationof one selection item or a plurality of selection items selected by auser is evaluated, comprising the steps of: indicating informationconcerning the selection item to the user; evaluating a selection setconstituted of the selection item in accordance with at least one userdefined evaluation rule to evaluate the selection set, the at least oneevaluation rule being a condition-value rule for quantifying the amountthat the user-selected selection set enables achievement of a purpose ofselection; and outputting an evaluation result which is a tallyindicative of how much the selection set satisfies the at least oneevaluation rule.
 30. The selection set evaluation method as set forth inclaim 29, wherein the evaluation result is a sum of unit scores each ofwhich is prepared based on a characteristic of each selection item orbased on a combination of the selection items included in the selectionset.
 31. The selection set evaluation method as set fourth in claim 29,wherein outputting an evaluation result outputs a basis for theevaluation result on a display.
 32. The selection set evaluation methodas set fourth in claim 29, further comprising displaying a ranking ofplural selection sets made by plural users based on the evaluationresults.
 33. A selection set evaluation device, by which a selection setconstituted of one selection item or a plurality of selection itemsselected by a user is evaluated, comprising: evaluation rule storingmeans for storing at least one user-defined evaluation rule to evaluatethe selection set made by a user making the selection set, the at leastone evaluation rule being a condition-value rule for quantifying theamount that the user-selected selection set enables achievement of apurpose of selection; selection set evaluating means for evaluating theselection set, in accordance with the at least one evaluation rulestored in the evaluation rule storing means, so as to output anevaluating result which is a tally indicative of how much the selectionset satisfies the at least one evaluating rule, when the selection setis inputted; selection set indicating means for indicating the selectionset, that has been inputted, to an evaluating user; evaluation inputtingmeans by which the evaluating user inputs an evaluation of the selectionset that has been indicated; and total evaluation deriving means forderiving a total evaluation result in accordance with (a) an evaluationresult made by the selection set evaluating means and (b) the evaluationinputted by the evaluating user with the evaluation inputting means, soas to output a total evaluation result.
 34. The selection set evaluationdevice as set forth in claim 33, further comprising: selection itemstoring means for storing information concerning the selection item;selection item indicating means for indicating the selection item to theuser making the selection set; and selection item selecting means bywhich the user making the selection set selects the selection item thathas been indicated.
 35. The selection set evaluation device as set forthin claim 33 or 34, further comprising evaluation rule setting meanshaving an interface for user invoked for adding or deleting orrectifying the at least one evaluation rule, wherein the evaluation rulesetting means updates the at least one evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means.
 36. The selection set evaluation deviceas set forth in claim 35, further comprising evaluation rule extractingmeans for extracting the at least one evaluation rule from theevaluation inputted by the evaluating user with the evaluation inputtingmeans, wherein the evaluation rule setting means updates the evaluationrule stored in the evaluation rule storing means by using the evaluationrule that has been extracted by the evaluation rule extracting means.37. The selection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 36,further comprising evaluation result adequacy setting means by which auser referring to the evaluation result sets adequacy of (a) theevaluation result made by the selection set evaluating means or (b) theevaluation inputted by the evaluating user with the evaluation inputtingmeans, wherein the evaluation rule extracting means extracts theevaluation rule corresponding to the adequacy of the evaluation that hasbeen set by the evaluation result adequacy setting means.
 38. Theselection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 33, wherein thecondition of the at least one evaluation rule is whether an order of theselection items in the selection set is identical to a specific order ornot.
 39. The selection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 33,wherein the condition of the at least one evaluation rule is whether anumber of the selection items in the selection set, which satisfies thecondition, is identical to a specific value.
 40. The selection setevaluation device as set forth in claim 33, wherein the condition of theat least one evaluation rule is whether or not a ratio of (a) some ofthe selection items that satisfy the condition and (b) others of theselection items that satisfy the condition is identical to a specificvalue.
 41. The selection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 33,wherein the condition of the at least one evaluation rule is whether ornot a number of combinations of the selection items combined so as tosatisfy the condition is identical to a specific value.
 42. Theselection set evaluation device as set forth in claim 33, wherein theevaluation result is a sum of unit scores each of which is preparedbased on a characteristic of each selection item or based on acombination of the selection items included in the selection set. 43.The selection set evaluation device as set fourth in claim 33, whereinthe selection set evaluation means outputs a basis for the evaluationresult on a display.
 44. The selection set evaluation device as setfourth in claim 33, further comprising selection set ranking means fordisplaying a ranking of plural selection sets made by plural users basedon the evaluation results.
 45. A selection set evaluating system,comprising: a selection set evaluation device, which evaluates aselection set constituted of one selection item or a plurality ofselection items selected by a user in accordance with at least oneuser-defined evaluation rule that has been set in advance, the at leastone evaluation rule being a condition-value rule for quantifying theamount that the user-selected selection set enables achievement of apurpose of selection, the evaluation device including selection itemtransmission controlling means for controlling transmission ofinformation concerning the selection item to a terminal operated by theuser who selects the selection item so as to make the selection set,selection set reception controlling means for controlling reception ofthe selection set from the terminal, evaluation rule storing means forstoring the at least one evaluation rule to evaluate the selection set,and selection set evaluating means for evaluating the selection set, inaccordance with the at least one evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means, so as to output an evaluation resultwhich is a tally indicative of how the selection set satisfies theevaluation rule; and a selection set making device, connected to theselection set evaluation device, which makes a selection set constitutedof one selection item or a plurality of selection items, the selectionset making device including selection item selecting means by which auser selects the selection item indicated by the selection setevaluation device, and selection set transmitting means for transmittingthe selection set that has been made by the user to the selection setevaluation device.
 46. A product selling device, which enables aplurality of products to be sold as a combination, comprising aselection set evaluation device, by which a selection set constituted ofone selection item or a plurality of selection items selected by a useris evaluated, comprising: evaluation rule storing means for storing atleast one user-defined evaluation rule to evaluate the selection setmade by a user making the selection set, the at least one evaluationrule being a condition-value rule for quantifying the amount that theuser-selected selection set enables achievement of a purpose ofselection; selection set evaluating means for evaluating the selectionset, in accordance with the at least one evaluation rule stored in theevaluation rule storing means, so as to output an evaluating resultwhich is a tally indicative of how much the selection set satisfies theat least one evaluation rule, when the selection set is inputted;selection set indicating means for indicating the selection set, thathas been inputted, to an evaluating user; evaluation inputting means bywhich the evaluating user inputs an evaluation of the selection set thathas been indicated; and total evaluation deriving means for deriving atotal evaluation result in accordance with (a) an evaluation result madeby the selection set evaluating means and (b) the evaluation inputted bythe evaluating user with the evaluation inputting means, so as to outputa total evaluation result.
 47. A communication supporting device, whichenables messages and the like to be exchanged between a plurality ofusers, comprising a selection set evaluation device, by which aselection set constituted of one selection item of a plurality ofselection items selected by a user is evaluated, comprising: evaluationrule storing means for storing at least one user-defined evaluation ruleto evaluate the selection set made by a user making the selection set,the at least one evaluation rule being a condition-value rule forquantifying the amount that the user-selected selection set enablesachievement of a purpose of selection; selection set evaluating meansfor evaluating the selection set, in accordance with the at least oneevaluation rule stored in the evaluation rule storing means, so as tooutput an evaluating result which is a tally indicative of how much theselection set satisfies the at least one evaluation rule, when theselection set is inputted; selection set indicating means for indicatingthe selection set, that has been inputted, to an evaluating user:evaluating inputting means by which the evaluating user inputs anevaluation of the selection set that has been indicated; and totalevaluation deriving means for deriving a total evaluation result inaccordance with (a) an evaluation result made by the selection setevaluating means and (b) the evaluation inputted by the evaluating userwith the evaluation inputting means, so as to output a total evaluationresult.
 48. A computer-readable storage medium, storing a programcarrying out a selection set evaluating method by a computing device, bywhich a combination of one selection item or a plurality of selectionitems selected by a user is evaluated, comprising the steps of:indicating information concerning the selection item to the user;evaluating a selection set constituted of the selection item inaccordance with at least one user defined evaluation rule to evaluatethe selection set, the at least one evaluation rule being acondition-value rule for quantifying the amount that the user-selectedselection set enables achievement of a purpose of selection; andoutputting an evaluation result which is a tally indicative of how muchthe selection set satisfies the at least one evaluation rule.